Pastor Darron Edwards welcomed U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison to a meeting with about 20 local pastors at United Believers Community Church to discuss Operation LeGend.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison announced today that 59 additional arrests have been made in the past week by local and federal law enforcement officers in Operation LeGend, for a total of 156 arrests since the start of the operation.
Among those arrested since Aug. 1, new federal charges have been filed against six defendants, for a total of 17 new federal cases in Operation LeGend. All of the new federal defendants were charged with firearms-related crimes. Four of the six new defendants were charged with being felons in possession of firearms. One defendant was charged with heroin trafficking and illegally possessing a firearm. One defendant was charged with participating in a conspiracy to commit armed robberies at several local businesses.
Among the remaining 53 arrests in the past week, 35 were fugitives with either state or federal warrants for their arrest. The remaining 18 non-fugitive arrests were referred for prosecution in state court. Seven arrests were for homicides, for a total of 12 homicide arrests under Operation LeGend. Other offenses cited in the arrests included assault (including non-fatal shootings), drug trafficking, illegally possessing firearms, robbery, bank robbery, child molestation, sexual assault, possessing stolen property and possessing stolen firearms.
U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison met with a group of pastors this week to discuss Operation LeGend, listen to their concerns, and respond to their questions.
In addition to the arrests, in the past week agents and officers seized 17 firearms (for a total of 52 firearms seized during Operation LeGend); a number of stolen vehicles and motorcycles; 210 THC cartridges; quantities of cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana; and $52,000.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is not able to track cases that are referred for prosecution in state court. The following defendants have been charged in federal court in the past week:
Terrell L. Releford, felon in possession of a firearm;
Dustin M. Jordan, felon in possession of a firearm;
Zackory Phillips, felon in possession of a firearm;
Travis J. Pipes, heroin trafficking, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime;
Dylan Pruett, felon in possession of a firearm;
Chase M. Murphy, armed robbery conspiracy, armed robbery, brandishing firearms during a crime of violence.
Previously reported federal defendants:
Monty Ray, unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm;
Steven Younce, felon in possession of a firearm, meth trafficking, possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime;
Daniel Briscoe, methamphetamine trafficking, heroin trafficking;
Leamandreal Dorsey, felon in possession of a firearm;
Shannon Walz, felon in possession of a firearm, felon in possession of ammunition;
Maricela Lozano, carjacking, using a firearm during a crime of violence;
Gary Dorch, felon in possession of a firearm;
Patricia Nelson, felon in possession of a firearm;
Bobby Lynn King, felon in possession of a firearm;
Logan Tanner Laws, unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm;
Michael Glen Zeigers, felon in possession of a firearm;
Nelson, King, Laws, and Zeigers are co-defendants also charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, money laundering, and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
Operation LeGend
Operation LeGend is a federal partnership with local law enforcement to address the increase in homicides and violent crime in Kansas City, Mo., in 2020. The operation honors the memory of four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, one of the youngest fatalities during a record-breaking year of homicides and shootings. Additional federal agents were assigned to the operation from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
A group of local pastors met with U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison this week at United Believers Community Church to discuss Operation LeGend.