KANSAS CITY, MO—Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for using a firearm to commit a robbery, which led to a high-speed police chase that ended in a crash that sent him to the hospital.

Gary S. Dorch, 21, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to five years in federal prison without parole.

On March 10, 2015, Dorch pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Dorch was a passenger in a Chrysler Sebring that was stolen at gunpoint on Dec. 19, 2013, from a woman at a car wash. A short time later on the same day, still riding in the stolen Sebring, Dorch committed an armed robbery at Public Storage, 9820 Holmes in Kansas City. He stole $80 from the business as well as a wallet, identification and cell phone from an employee.

The Sebring fled the area of the robbery north on Holmes and exited onto I-435 East while being pursued by law enforcement. The Sebring, which refused to stop, was ultimately involved in a vehicular crash near the intersection of Blue Parkway and Elmwood. Dorch and a co-defendant were arrested and officers found a loaded Taurus .40-caliber pistol in Dorch’s front pants pocket. Dorch and his co-defendant were transported to a local hospital for treatment.

Another co-defendant, Randolph E. Wells, 30, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to commit robbery and to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and awaits sentencing. Wells admitted that he, Dorch, and other co-defendants had met earlier that day and discussed the need for a vehicle. They traveled together to the car wash, where a co-defendant carjacked the vehicle, and they agreed to use the stolen vehicle to commit a robbery.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Edwards. It was investigated by the FBI, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Independence, Mo., Police Department.