A Springfield, Mo., man and leader of a violent gang was sentenced to six years and six months in federal prison without parole for illegally possessing firearms.
Ezekiel Josiah King, 21, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough after pleading guilty on January 16, 2024, to one count of being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of firearms. King admitted to possessing a loaded Glock .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine containing 29 rounds and an Anderson AM-15 multi-caliber rifle loaded with 31 rounds of .223-caliber ammunition.
King was arrested on February 15, 2022, after Springfield police detectives stopped the gold Nissan Altima he was driving for multiple traffic violations. King told officers he was driving erratically because he feared a rival gang was pursuing him. In addition to the firearms, detectives found marijuana, another extended magazine, and two factory Glock magazines under the driver’s seat.
Court documents revealed that King, a leader of the FTO gang, was involved in numerous violent firearm offenses, many related to a feud with a rival gang. During another traffic stop on October 23, 2022, law enforcement officers seized a loaded Anderson Manufacturing AM-15, AR-style pistol with an extended magazine containing 36 rounds, found at King’s feet. An analysis by the ATF National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) linked the firearm to a recent drive-by shooting in Springfield.
King is also a suspect or person of interest in several serious crimes, including a downtown Springfield shooting that resulted in two deaths and one injury, a robbery, a firearm theft, a shooting that left a victim paralyzed, and multiple drive-by shootings.
Co-defendant Jardell Carlin Williams, 20, another leader of the FTO gang, was sentenced on February 5, 2024, to six years and six months in federal prison without parole. Williams pleaded guilty to two counts of being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of firearms.
Williams was a passenger in King’s vehicle during the February 15, 2022, traffic stop and admitted to possessing a Glock .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol. Detectives also found two boxes of ammunition on the vehicle’s front floorboard. Additionally, Williams admitted to possessing a C3 Defense 5.56-caliber semi-automatic pistol during another traffic stop on October 22, 2022. The C3 Defense AR-style pistol was tentatively linked to three shootings in the Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kansas areas.
Both King and Williams admitted to regularly using marijuana.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan and was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, and the Springfield Police Department.
