KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Raytown, Missouri, man has been charged in federal court with drug trafficking and illegally possessing a firearm after selling a stolen handgun to an undercover federal agent.
Antonio Johnson, 18, was charged in a two-count complaint filed under seal in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., on Sept. 3, 2020. The complaint was unsealed and made public following Johnson’s arrest and initial court appearance on Friday, Sept. 11.
The federal criminal complaint charges Johnson with one count of distributing marijuana and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, an undercover federal agent arranged four controlled purchases of marijuana from Johnson in July and August 2020. When Johnson met the undercover agent for the first transaction, he was armed with a pistol placed between the driver’s seat and center console of the vehicle he was driving, and a black rifle sitting on the lap of a passenger in the vehicle.
On Aug. 31, 2020, the undercover federal agent contacted Johnson and told him she wanted to purchase a pistol from him, and they agreed on a price of $450. On Sept. 1, 2020, Johnson allegedly met the undercover agent at his apartment and handed her a Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun and a baggie that contained 29 grams of marijuana for which she paid a total of $680. Johnson allegedly agreed to get her more firearms. The pistol had been stolen from the personal vehicle of a Grain Valley, Missouri, police officer in August 2020.
The charges contained in this complaint are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Trey Alford. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
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.
