93.3 KWTO Keeping Watch Over the Ozarks
A man from Springfield who was part of a local rap group and leader of a gang known as “FTO” will spend more than half a dozen years in prison for possession of a firearm that authorities believe was used in several shootings in the Kansas City area.
20-year-old Jardell Williams was sentenced Monday to six years and six months in prison on two counts of unlawful transport of firearms.
According to investigators, Williams was arrested on two separate occasions when the car he was riding in was pulled over while he was in possession of a gun in February and October of 2022.
One of the weapons, a C3 Defense semi-automatic pistol, was identified as being used in three separate shootings that took place in Kansas City, on both the Kansas and Missouri sides.
The two sentences will be served concurrently, followed by three years of supervised release.
A co-defendant in the case, Ezekiel King, also pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a firearm and will be sentenced later this year.
The U-S Attorney’s Office says according to court documents, Williams is also a suspect or a person of interest in a shootout between rival gangs that occurred in a busy commercial area of downtown Springfield on May 14, 2022, which resulted in the deaths of two people and injuries to a third, as well as a robbery in which the victim was struck by an unknown object and dragged by a vehicle, and multiple drive-by shootings.