KC Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Illegal Firearms, Drug Trafficking
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for drug trafficking and illegally possessing firearms that were linked to several shootings.
Marck E. Fristoe, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 15 years in federal prison without parole.
On Sept. 9, 2020, Fristoe pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one count of possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
Kansas City police officers attempted to arrest Fristoe on an outstanding warrant on April 5, 2019. Fristoe, while under surveillance, left the Falcon Point Apartment Complex and got into the passenger seat of a Ford Fusion. Officers attempted a traffic stop, but the Fusion fled, leading officers in a pursuit at speeds over 100 miles per hour. The Fusion swerved in and out of traffic, and forced other drivers off the road.
When the Fusion pulled over near I-29 and Northeast Davidson Road, the driver and Fristoe were placed in custody. Officers found a backpack on the floorboard of the rear passenger seat that contained a loaded Micro Draco 7.62x39mm pistol with a full 30-round extended magazine, 85 live rounds of ammunition, 10 individually-wrapped baggies that contained a total of at least 5.6 grams of crack cocaine, two digital scales, and a pipe.
Investigators with the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center and the KCPD Crime Lab determined that the Micro Draco pistol had been preliminarily linked in two earlier shootings in March 2019. On March 27, 2019, several bullets were fired into an occupied house in Kansas City, Mo., and nine shell casings were recovered. On March 30, 2019, officers responded to a shooting report between cars in a roadway near 13th Street and Quindaro Blvd. in Kansas City, Kansas. Officers recovered 12 shell casings from the scene.
Fristoe also admitted that he was in possession of a different firearm three days after it was preliminarily linked to shell casings recovered at a scene where a house occupied by several people, including four children, was shot into on Aug. 15, 2018. Police officers recovered four 9mm shell casings from the roadway in front of the house. A witness told officers that Fristoe had been in possession of a black handgun with an extended magazine when he threatened her and assaulted her two days earlier. According to court documents, the witness said Fristoe opened her car door, hit her in the face, and choked her into unconsciousness. Officers located Fristoe on Aug. 18, 2018. He was carrying a backpack that contained a loaded Taurus 9mm pistol with an extended magazine. Investigators determined that the spent shell casings from the house were fired from the pistol in Fristoe’s backpack.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Fristoe has a prior felony conviction for aggravated battery after shooting into an occupied car.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean T. Foley. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.
Project Safe Neighborhoods
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is partnering with federal, state, and local law enforcement to specifically identify criminals responsible for significant violent crime in the Western District of Missouri. A centerpiece of this effort is Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone. Project Safe Neighborhoods is an evidence-based program that identifies the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develops comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, Project Safe Neighborhoods focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
