NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

BRADLEY J. SCHLOZMAN

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

FEBRUARY 26, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PUBLIC HOUSING SAFETY INITIATIVE

KC MAN SENTENCED FOR CRACK COCAINE

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Bradley J. Schlozman, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for possessing with the intent to distribute crack cocaine.

The successful investigation was conducted as part of the Public Housing Safety Initiative, an effort by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development to assist in the investigation, prosecution and prevention of violent crimes and drug offenses in public, federally assisted housing areas.

Dewayne Jones, 36, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple this afternoon to 11 years and three months in federal prison without parole.

On July 17, 2006, Jones pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute over 50 grams of crack cocaine. Police officers who arrested Jones on Nov. 8, 2005, found cocaine in a brown paper bag on his kitchen counter and crack cocaine hidden in a Cocoa Pebbles cereal box and in a baby food container, as well as drug paraphernalia and items used to cook powder cocaine into crack cocaine. Officers also found crack cocaine in Jones’ 1994 Lexus.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew P. Wolesky. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

Public Housing Safety Initiative

The Public Housing Safety Initiative, a partnership that includes the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, Independence, Mo., Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General, focuses on reducing crime in targeted public housing areas, improving tenant conditions and improving interagency collaboration and communication on quality-of-life issues in public housing areas.

The Public Housing Safety Initiative provides federal funding to train police officers and crime analysts, improve surveillance in public housing areas, increase the number of sweeps conducted in these areas, target criminals residing in public housing areas, increase drug enforcement, improve investigations and coordinate and cooperate with probation and parole efforts. Specifically, a portion of the funding is earmarked for the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Independence, Mo., Police Department. Additionally, the federal initiative funded the hiring of a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney to prosecute crimes occurring within federally-assisted housing areas.****************

This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at