An Independence, Missouri man has been sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing a firearm. Christopher A. Durant, 45, received a sentence of 84 months in prison without parole from U.S. District Court Judge Brian C. Wimes after pleading guilty on August 7, 2025.
Durant had previously been convicted of arson in October 2021 for attempting to burn down a church and was sentenced to over five years in federal prison. Less than two months after his release, at approximately 2:00am on May 13, 2025, Durant was seen walking through the streets of Independence firing a gun into the air. As a convicted felon, he was not allowed to own or possess a firearm. When police arrived at the scene, Durant fled and threw the gun near the sidewalk on a church campus.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Kirkpatrick and investigated by the Independence Police Department.
This prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America, described as “a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”
The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri handles federal prosecutions and civil litigation across 66 counties in western Missouri and works with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners. The office also supports community outreach programs addressing violent crime and drug trafficking issues according to its official website. Its jurisdiction stretches from the Iowa border in the north to Arkansas in the south and covers areas from Kansas in the west to about halfway across Missouri in the east.
