KANSAS CITY — A federal judge Friday rejected the bid by one of Kansas City's most notorious drug kingpins to reduce his life prison sentence.

It was the second time this year that Gilbert Dowdy had been denied a sentence reduction.

Dowdy, now 61, was sentenced in 1991 to life in prison for his decade-long role in running a ring that sold cocaine by the pound and made millions of dollars while he worked as a Kansas City fire captain.

Dowdy, who is serving his sentence at the federal prison in Greenville, Ill., continues to maintain he is innocent of drug-trafficking charges.

In his latest motion, Dowdy argued that the sentencing judge improperly enhanced his drug conspiracy sentence by finding that he had carried a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime.

“The only gun that could possibly be attributed to Dowdy is his legally owned and registered gun that was in his home, not one associated with any kind of drug activity,” he argued in the written motion.

Dowdy contended that just days before his arrest, his house and girlfriend’s car were “shot-up in an attempted car-jacking.”

He said he had the constitutional right to possess a firearm for protection.

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