04-25-2014, 08:16 AM
Straw Purchaser Convicted
![[Image: 1397592475000-JG-041514-Nguyen-1.jpg]](http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/7ea26ba36b0f1b24728c9c90d985c6db7a72a95c/c=210-0-2052-2459&r=383&c=0-0-380-510/local/-/media/Rochester/Rochester/2014/04/15//1397592475000-JG-041514-Nguyen-1.jpg)
Dawn Nguyen ^ was convicted of first-degree falsification of a business record. She was accused of lying on a firearms transaction form in 2010, when she bought a rifle and shotgun at Gander Mountain in Henrietta. She claimed on the form that the guns were for herself. Authorities said the guns were not for her, but her neighbor, William Spengler Jr. Essentially, she was convicted of straw purchasing.
Spengler, a convicted felon who was therefore prohibited from buying or possessing a firearm, then used the guns that Nguyen bought for him in the ambush and shooting murders of the two New York firefighters on Christmas Eve 2012.
Nguyen was denied bail and is being held until her sentencing on May 19 -- she faces a maximum of four years. However, she is also looking at federal charges for an illegal purchase of the firearms, selling to a known felon and an unlawful use of marijuana. There is no trial date set in that case.
It's good to see straw purchase laws being enforced. Hopefully, that will deter some people from providing guns to convicted felons and others who aren't qualified to own guns.
Dawn Nguyen ^ was convicted of first-degree falsification of a business record. She was accused of lying on a firearms transaction form in 2010, when she bought a rifle and shotgun at Gander Mountain in Henrietta. She claimed on the form that the guns were for herself. Authorities said the guns were not for her, but her neighbor, William Spengler Jr. Essentially, she was convicted of straw purchasing.
Spengler, a convicted felon who was therefore prohibited from buying or possessing a firearm, then used the guns that Nguyen bought for him in the ambush and shooting murders of the two New York firefighters on Christmas Eve 2012.
Nguyen was denied bail and is being held until her sentencing on May 19 -- she faces a maximum of four years. However, she is also looking at federal charges for an illegal purchase of the firearms, selling to a known felon and an unlawful use of marijuana. There is no trial date set in that case.
It's good to see straw purchase laws being enforced. Hopefully, that will deter some people from providing guns to convicted felons and others who aren't qualified to own guns.