Month: November 2014

A Kansas City, Kan., man was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in federal prison for selling stolen firearms, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

Joshua S. Bailes, 32, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of stolen firearms. In his plea, he admitted that on Aug. 16, 2012, he and two co-defendants sold a total of four firearms to undercover agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

On Aug. 21, 2012, Bailes and one co-defendant sold a total of 17 firearms to undercover ATF agents. It was determined later that the firearms were stolen. Among the firearms Bailes sold were handguns, rifles and shotguns. At the time of the crime, Bailes was prohibited from possessing firearms because he was a prior convicted felon.

Co-defendant Richard Fisher was sentenced to 15 years. Co-defendant Vincent Leuzinger was sentenced to 70 months.

Grissom commended the ATF and Assistant U.S. Attorney Terra Morehead for their work on the case.

Kansas Federal Court Judge Daniel Crabtree today overturned the state’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples.

The decision strikes down the 2005 Kansas Marriage Amendment that defines marriage as a “civil contract between one man and one woman only” in the Kansas Constitution, declaring any other definition of marriage as void. The ruling is temporarily stayed, putting the effect of the ruling on hold until Nov. 11.

“We are immensely pleased that the freedom to marry has finally come to Kansas,” said Susan Estes, president of the board of the ACLU of Kansas. “Today’s decision serves as proof that Kansans, like the majority of Americans, believe same-sex couples and their families should be treated just like any other loving family.”

The ruling came in Marie, et al., v. Moser, et al., a lawsuit filed Oct. 10, 2014 by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas on behalf of two lesbian couples denied marriage licenses in Douglas and Sedgwick counties. Even though binding precedent from the Tenth Circuit, which includes Kansas, has already held that excluding same-sex couples from marriage is unconstitutional, Kansas state officials have continued to enforce Kansas’s marriage ban and defend the ban in court.

“Today’s victory adds to the tremendous momentum toward full marriage equality to which our country has been building in the past year and, especially, within the past few weeks,” said Doug Bonney, legal director of the ACLU of Kansas. “The ACLU of Kansas will remain vigilant in opposition to any discriminatory measures put forth to chip away at equal treatment for same-sex couples moving forward.”

Shots were fired by police at a driver who was ramming marked vehicles early Tuesday morning, a police spokesman said.

The incident took place at 12:44 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4, near 11th and Reynolds Avenue in Kansas City, Kan., according to the spokesman.

Police arrived at the area, after reports of a suspicious occupied vehicle. A computer check of the vehicle tag indicated it was stolen.

Officers located the vehicle, confirmed it was stolen, and approached the vehicle. At that point, the driver began ramming marked vehicles, placing an officer in harm’s way, the spokesman said.

At least one officer fired at the driver, who continued to ram his way out and fled, according to the spokesman. The driver later was captured and taken into custody without further incident.

Police are also investigating the possibility that a bullet fired during the incident struck a residence in the area, the spokesman said.

Police said no injuries were reported, and the incident remains under investigation.