A Mission Hills attorney has been sentenced to five years in prison after a Johnson County, Missouri, judge rejected a plea bargain that could have ended with him on probation.
On Monday in Johnson County, Missouri, District Court, Peter E. Goss was sentenced in front of a packed courtroom to a five-year prison sentence for driving while intoxicated and causing the death of another person who was not a passenger in his car, a class B felony.
The sentencing comes after Goss pleaded guilty to both charges on June 22, about one year after he was charged on June 24, 2025, for causing a fatal wreck near Lone Jack, Missouri, in September 2024 that killed Lee’s Summit man Kevin Wilson.
“You sentenced ‘Homer’ Kevin Ray Wilson to death that night,” Judge Stacy Lett, who handed down the sentence, told Goss in court on Monday.
On Monday after the sentencing, online court records showed Goss will serve his sentence with the Missouri Department of Corrections.
The Missouri Department of Corrections’ online inmate search did not include information about Goss as of Monday afternoon because the system was last updated on Sunday night.
The original plea agreement was reached between Goss and his attorney James Hobbs, Wilson’s family and Johnson County, Missouri, Prosecutor Robert Russell.
While the five-year prison sentence would have remained in place, the deal would have included Goss being placed in a 120-day treatment program. If that program proved successful, he could have requested the treatment program and probation replace time spent in prison.
Talking about how much the case weighed on her, as well as balancing victim impact statements from Wilson’s family and letters of character from Goss’s friends and family, Lett didn’t see the plea agreement as a harsh enough punishment.
“I took an oath to serve this community of Johnson County [Missouri]. I took an oath to keep this community as safe as possible. Your behavior that night and the creation of this loss are significant enough, I do not believe (the plea agreement) is appropriate,” she said.
While the family agreed to the plea bargain, Russell said he believes they’re satisfied with the prison sentence. He also credited Goss for admitting guilt and not putting Wilson’s family through the pain of a trial.
“We were able to come to an agreement to get a plea of guilty and admission of responsibility for his conduct, and I think the family feels that five years is an appropriate sentence,” he said. “I don’t know that anybody is feeling like they’re a winner or not this morning with what the judge did because there are no winners today. There are no winners in the situation.”
In a press release, Kevin Wilson’s said they were satisfied with the sentencing.
“Today Peter Goss has been sentenced appropriately. He has caused irreparable harm to many people by his actions. There are no winners here. Nothing brings Kevin Wilson back,” they said.
Goss caused the fatal wreck in 2024
Goss previously admitted he was intoxicated on Sept. 20, 2024, when he left The Fantasy Ranch Gentleman’s Club in Centerview, Missouri.
Goss was driving the wrong way on U.S. Highway 50 near Highway Z when his Chevrolet Suburban collided with a Subaru Legacy driven by Wilson, age 65.
Goss suffered serious injuries and was taken to Research Medical Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, according to the Highway Patrol’s online crash report at the time.
During Goss’s plea hearing in June, Lett covered many details surrounding Goss’s plea, including affirming Goss knew what he was pleading to, that he was of sound mind and body, had not consumed any alcohol or drugs and was receiving adequate legal representation.
Goss at that time also waived his right to a jury trial, which was originally scheduled for July.
In December 2024, Goss reached a settlement with Wilson’s two adult children.
Goss was a decorated personal injury attorney
Goss founded The Goss Law Firm P.C., practicing out of Kansas City, Missouri.
In his time serving as an attorney, he garnered a number of awards, including the “Best of the Bar” by the Kansas City Business Journal multiple times and was chosen by the National Trial Lawyers Association as one of Missouri’s Top 100 trial attorneys, according to his bio on the Goss Law Firm website.
While its website still shows Goss Law Firm as an active firm, mentions of Goss’s name have been removed. The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Johnson County Post following his sentencing.
Because Goss was a personal injury attorney, Lett said he knew better than most about the consequences of his actions on that night more than two years ago.
“Being in the area of law, I know you have financially benefited and litigated across these types of circumstances (for) families victimized by the loss of a loved one,” she said.
In a brief statement to the court, Goss apologized for his actions that night. He is seeing a therapist and received treatment for alcoholism, Hobbs, his attorney, said.
“I’m so very sorry to Mr. Wilson, Mr. Wilson’s family, and Mr. Wilson’s friends. Ever since this has happened, I have prayed every night for them, and I hope that someday maybe they can find it in them to forgive me. But I certainly understand if they can’t find that in them to forgive me,” Goss said in court on Monday.
Family expressed grief over loss of father
In a press release, the family described Kevin Wilson as caring person to anyone who met him.
“He was a good hearted man who will be remembered for his broad smile, sense of humor and his wonderful personality,” they stated
During the sentencing, both of Wilson’s children, Olivia and Aaron, expressed their love for their father and grief at all the big moments he’s missing.
A 65-year-old lover of golf who worked for 30 years for the manufacturing company Sandvik Coromont, Kevin Wilson was preparing to retire to spend time with his family and help others, Aaron said.
“He was days away from retiring and being able to relax and enjoy his life as he wanted,” he said.
Getting married in 40 days, Olivia said the grief that her father will not be there weighs heavily on her.
“I still have yet to come to terms with the fact that my dad will not walk me down the aisle, give a speech or dance with me, and you should know that he would have loved to do that … (He) have delivered a speech that would have had the entire room laughing,” she said.
Known as a careful driver, Kevin Wilson’s death is made even more tragic by how reckless Goss was.
“He would have dodged the car that killed him if he could have, but he didn’t because he couldn’t,” Olivia said.
Listing all of the things she wanted out of the sentencing, Olivia said the most significant one was the reminder that her father should still be alive.
“Above everything, I hope you know that he should be here,” she said.
