KANSAS CITY —Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson last week announced the office secured a seven-year sentence for a man involved in a drug trafficking case.
In May, Byron D. Kitchen, 46, pleaded guilty to 2nd Degree Trafficking Drugs and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.
According to court records, the Jackson County Drug Task Force began investigating Kitchen in September 2023 after receiving intelligence that he was selling fentanyl pills. Following about five months of the Task Force’s surveillance, the Blue Springs Police Department executed a search warrant, seizing two firearms, ammunition, about 90 fentanyl pills, and other controlled substances.
The Jackson County Drug Task Force brings together detectives from multiple county police departments and sheriff’s offices with federal, state, and local agencies to target drug dealers across the metro. Their outstanding work has earned national recognition:
- Missouri Narcotics Officer’s Association’s Law Enforcement Unit of the Year seven times in 13 years, including 2024
- Midwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Outstanding Community Impact Investigation in 2023
- More than $35 million in controlled substances seized in 2024 alone
- 127 firearms confiscated last year, including illegal machine switches and silencers