XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: eric@att.net   
      
   ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A New York woman was sentenced to eight   
   years in federal prison Wednesday for supplying guns to a former   
   neighbor who used them to kill his sister and two firefighters   
   in a Christmas Eve ambush that also caused seven homes to burn   
   to the ground.   
      
   Dawn Nguyen, 25, pleaded guilty in June to three felonies,   
   including supplying guns to a known felon. Before her   
   sentencing, she apologized to firefighters and others in the   
   courtroom and asked for forgiveness.   
      
   The sentence is much harsher than the eight- to 14-month prison   
   term suggested by federal sentencing guidelines.   
      
   U.S. Magistrate David Larimer said it was justified because   
   Nguyen knew that William Spengler, 62, had served time in prison   
   for bludgeoning his grandmother to death with a hammer in 1981   
   and had said he would kill again.   
      
   "You know someone was involved in the death of their   
   grandmother. That alone should raise not one but 100 red flags,"   
   Larimer said in the courtroom crowded with members of the slain   
   firefighters' West Webster Fire Department and other first   
   responders. "Maybe this is not the kind of person you want to   
   provide with guns."   
      
   Prosecutors said Nguyen accepted $1,000 from Spengler to go with   
   him to a Gander Mountain store in June 2010 and buy a semi-   
   automatic rifle and pistol-grip shotgun, lying on a form that   
   they were for her.   
      
   More than two years later, the weapons were found Dec. 24, 2012,   
   near Spengler's body following the ambush that killed volunteer   
   firefighters Tomasz Kaczowka and Michael Chiapperini. Spengler   
   committed suicide.   
      
   Nguyen's attorney, Matthew Parrinello, said Nguyen believed   
   Spengler wanted the weapons for hunting and could not have   
   predicted what he would do.   
      
   "This was a quirky, weird, crazy neighbor that she knew, but he   
   was nice and kind and he did things for her family," Parrinello,   
   said. "He never gave her any indication prior to her purchasing   
   the weapons that he was going to do anything violent."   
      
   Nguyen, who was a college student at the time, turned around to   
   address the firefighters before hearing her sentence, telling   
   them she is haunted by what happened.   
      
   "I'm so, so sorry," she said to the group, which included   
   Theodore Scardino and Joseph Hofstetter, who were wounded by   
   Spengler as they responded to the home he shared with his 67-   
   year-old sister, Cheryl. "I'm sorry for the people whose lives   
   have been affected."   
      
   Because of the gunfire, firefighters could not extinguish the   
   fire, leaving it to spread and destroy six additional homes in   
   the Lake Ontario community. Cheryl Spengler's body was found in   
   the ashes. She had been shot in the head.   
      
   Nguyen's federal prison sentence will run concurrent with a 1   
   1/3- to 4-year sentence she began serving earlier this year on   
   related state charges.   
      
   "There is nothing that happened in court here today that will   
   bring back the deceased firefighters who died trying to save the   
   community on Christmas Eve, nor relieve the pain that the   
   families will continue to suffer, not only every holiday season,   
   but day in and day out as they continue to live with the   
   consequences that this defendant, Dawn Nguyen, started in 2010,"   
   U.S. Attorney William Hochul said outside the courthouse, where   
   he had sought a 10-year sentence.   
      
   West Webster Fire Department spokesman Al Sienkiewicz was   
   unmoved by Nguyen's apology.   
      
   "You're at that point in time when you say whatever you can say   
   to save yourself," he said.   
      
   http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Woman-faces-sentencing-   
   for-buying-killer-his-guns-5760665.php?#photo-6876780   
      
        
      
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