A Denver, Colorado, man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for transporting fentanyl and methamphetamine through Kansas City, Missouri, aboard a bus, while also illegally possessing a firearm.
Ahmad Rashad Rhodes, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough. His sentence includes no possibility of parole due to his designation as a career offender based on prior felony convictions.
On Dec. 7, 2023, a jury found Rhodes guilty of several charges, including possession of fentanyl and methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Officers with the Missouri Western Interdiction and Narcotics Task Force (MoWIN) were conducting operations at a Kansas City bus station on March 20, 2023, when Rhodes arrived on a bus from Los Angeles, California. A police drug-sniffing dog alerted to illegal substances in both a suitcase in the bus’s undercarriage and a backpack in the passenger compartment. Officers identified both items as belonging to Rhodes.
When officers made contact with Rhodes, he admitted to carrying a firearm in a crossbody bag. Following a brief struggle, he was taken into custody. A search of his belongings revealed 61 and 33 blue counterfeit oxycodone hydrochloride pills, both containing fentanyl, in two metal pill holders on his key chain.
Additionally, the crossbody bag Rhodes was carrying contained 3,200 counterfeit oxycodone pills with fentanyl, 60 grams of methamphetamine, and a loaded Smith & Wesson .38-caliber pistol. His luggage also contained a digital scale, over 100 unused plastic baggies, and marijuana.
Rhodes informed officers that he was en route to Louisville, Kentucky, and fleeing Colorado, where he was facing sentencing for a pending drug trafficking case. Rhodes has eight prior felony convictions, including those related to drug trafficking and firearms possession. He had pleaded guilty in two drug cases in Colorado but failed to appear for sentencing.
Federal law prohibits convicted felons from possessing firearms or ammunition. Rhodes’ history of criminal activity has spanned much of his adult life, with most violations committed while under supervision for previous offenses.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan A. Baker and Gregg Coonrod and investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.
