May 19, 2014

Drug Traffickers Sentenced to Federal Prison in Operation Broken Bone

KANSAS CITY, KS—Six defendants have been sentenced to prison as a result of a federal drug investigation in metropolitan Kansas City dubbed Operation Broken Bone, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

The investigation targeted a drug trafficking organization that operated from January 2006 to November 2011 to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The FBI, the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department, and the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department worked with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas and other members of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDEFT) on the case.

The following defendants were sentenced May 16:

  • Damian Mays, 24, Kansas City, Kansas, 235 months in federal prison
  • Verdell Mays, 37, Kansas City, Kansas, 225 months
  • Christopher Holliday, 26, 114 months
  • Frank Sharron Piper, III, 35, Kansas City, Kansas, 135 months
  • Brenton Bassett, 38, Kansas City, Kansas, 84 months
  • Cynthia Hatfield, 32, Kansas City, Kansas, three months

At the sentencing, prosecutors told the judge the defendants conspired together to distribute drugs and to maintain multiple Kansas City area residences where the drugs were stored, consumed, or distributed. The investigators arranged to buy drugs from the defendants and served search warrants in which drugs, money, and firearms were seized.

Other defendants include:

  • Gregory T. Moore, 37, Kansas City, Kansas, who is awaiting sentencing
  • Daniel Bryant, 34, Kansas City, Missouri, who is awaiting sentencing
  • Johnie Mitchell, 60, Kansas City, Kansas, sentenced to 35 months
  • Marcus M. Williams, 35, Overland Park, Kansas, who is awaiting sentencing
  • Michael D. Davis, 33, Kansas City, Kansas, sentenced to 40 months
  • Ondre Durham, 40, Kansas City, Kansas, sentenced to 30 months
  • Rahmann Easley, 35, Kansas City, Kansas, who is set for sentencing July 17
  • Charles Easley, 38, Kansas City, Kansas, who is awaiting sentencing
  • Joshua Jones, 28, Kansas City, Kansas, who is awaiting sentencing
  • Raymond Cornejo, 53, Kansas City, Kansas, who is awaiting sentencing
  • Lamar Brooks, 38, Kansas City, Missouri, who is set for sentencing October 21
  • Christopher Craig, 31, Kansas City, Missouri, who is set for sentencing July 15
  • Jacquel Cunningham, 22, Kansas City, Kansas, who is set for sentencing August 5
  • Anthony Smith, 41, Kansas City, Missouri, who is awaiting sentencing

Grissom commended the FBI; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Kansas Bureau of Investigation; the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department; the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department; Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations; the Kansas Highway Patrol; the Kansas City, Missouri Career Criminal Division; the Riverside Police Department; Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri McCracken; and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Trent Krug for their work on the case.