A Springfield man believed to be a leader of a gang known as “FTO,” was sentenced in federal court on Feb. 5 for illegally possessing firearms, some of which have been linked to shootings.
Jardell Carlin Williams, 20, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to six years and six months in federal prison without parole.
According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice's Western District of Missouri, Williams pleaded guilty in 2023 to two counts of being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm.
According to the release, Williams is also a person of interest in a shootout between rival gangs that occurred in a busy part of downtown Springfield on May 14, 2022, which resulted in two deaths and injuries to a third person, as well as a robbery in which the victim was struck by an unknown object and dragged by a vehicle, and multiple drive-by shootings.
A spokesperson for the Springfield Police Department confirmed Williams is believed to be a person of interest in the shooting on May 14, 2022, but Williams is not a suspect or person of interest in either of the deaths that occurred that night.
Williams admitted he was in possession of a Glock .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol when a gold Nissan Altima, driven by co-defendant Ezekiel Josiah King, 20, of Springfield, was stopped by Springfield Police Department detectives on Feb. 15, 2022.
King, also believed to be a leader of the FTO gang, was found to be in possession of a loaded Glock .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, an Anderson AM-15 rifle, which was in the back seat of the car with a juvenile passenger.
Detectives found marijuana on Williams and in a backpack belonging to Williams. Both Williams and King admitted they regularly smoked marijuana.
Williams also admitted that he was in possession of a semi-automatic pistol when a vehicle in which he was a passenger was stopped by detectives with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 23, 2022.
According to the release, Williams was also stopped by Nixa police officers on Oct. 16, 2021. There were three passengers in the vehicle, including one juvenile. The juvenile was armed with a stolen, loaded Highpoint gun. A loaded SCCY pistol was found near another passenger. A loaded, stolen Anderson AM-15 rifle was located in the vehicle.
During the Nixa traffic stop, officers noted they saw 15 to 20 bullet holes in Williams’ vehicle. He confirmed he had been involved in a shooting, but refused to provide additional details. Williams was charged in with possession of a stolen firearm in Christian County Circuit Court.
From the ATF investigation
Agents with the ATF test fired the guns seized from the traffic stop on Feb. 15, 2022. The shell casings from those test fires were submitted to the ATF National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) laboratory to determine if there was any evidence linking the guns to past crimes.
The NIBIN analysis indicated that the .40-caliber Glock pistol possessed by Williams on Feb. 15, 2022, had been used in a drive-by shooting of a Springfield house that occurred on Jan. 30, 2022. At the time of the shooting, five people were in the home. From examining bullet holes, police officers found some of the bullets entered the home into a bedroom, the living room, and into the bathroom. Police found shell casings in the street. Investigators also found that a bullet struck a vehicle parked on the street. Investigators believe the Jan. 30, 2022, shooting was gang-related, because the house that was shot was associated with a rival gang.
In their investigation, officers also found a second home had been hit with gunfire. Police were able to determine that a bullet travelled through the home into a bedroom and then into the wall of a closet. The house was vacant at the time it was shot.
NIBIN analysis of the Anderson AM-15 rifle seized from King on Feb. 15, 2022, indicated that it was also used in the Jan. 30, 2022, shooting.
The NIBIN analysis indicated the gun seized from Williams on Oct. 23, 2022, had been used in three shootings in Kansas City that occurred on Aug. 6, 2022, Sept. 28, 2022, and Sept. 29, 2022. Williams was living in Blue Springs, in suburban Kansas City, when those shootings occurred.
King pleaded guilty on Jan. 16, 2024, to one count of being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of firearms and awaits sentencing.
“FTO” is an abbreviation that includes an expletive, followed by “the opps,” slang for anyone who opposes the gang or persons who supply information to law enforcement groups. FTO, according to the federal indictments for Williams and King, has a longstanding dispute in Springfield with another gang called Only Da Brothers, or ODB.
