A man who sold a gun used in February's Trolley Square shooting was sentenced to one year of probation in federal court Friday for failing to fill in one line on a 33-line form required when a gun is sold.
Wesley Wayne Hill, 39, a West Valley City gun dealer, pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of failure to make an appropriate entry and maintain a required record as a federal firearms licensee.
U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball, at the request of prosecutors and defense attorneys, dismissed another felony charge of unlawful transfer of a firearm.
Hill could have faced a year in prison and a $100,000 fine on the misdemeanor charge, but a plea bargain was reached in the case. Prosecutors said they were satisfied Hill had accepted responsibility for failing to fill out the entire form.
Sulejman Talovic, who was then 18, bought a Maverick Arms Model 88 12-gauge weapon from Hill on Nov. 13, 2006. Talovic, for reasons that have never been discovered, marched into the Trolley Square shopping center on Feb. 12, 2007, and began shooting, killing five people and wounding four others before being fatally shot by police.
Talovic, who was from Bosnia, was in the U.S. legally and had resident alien status.
During the court proceedings in Hill's case, defense attorneys raised the question of whether there was merit to the felony charge that forbids selling such weapons to someone under age 21. They contended that federal laws were too vague and the felony charge should be dropped. Prosecutors, however, maintained that the weapon came with a pistol grip, and that made it illegal for Hill to sell it to someone under 21.
Earl Xaiz, Hill's defense attorney, told the judge that Hill had done the required background check on Talovic when selling the gun, including calling the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and providing an alien identification number for Talovic.
"He went through the procedure required to get approval for the sale," Xaiz said.
What Hill failed to do was fill in a line that documents a secondary form of identification, which is required for non-citizens who buy guns.
Xaiz said that his client has no legal responsibility for the massacre that Talovic inflicted. But Xaiz told the judge that Hill feels terrible about what happened at Trolley Square, often weeps when discussing it and has suffered a number of symptoms, including sleeplessness, as a result.
Prosecutor John Huber later said it was Hill's responsibility to know the federal gun laws, despite their complexity, and to keep proper records. But the plea bargain and sentence are fair and reasonable, Huber said.
Talovic also was armed with a handgun during the attack. Three other men, Mackenzie Hunter, Brenden Taylor Brown and Matthew Hautala, previously were charged with selling a .38 handgun to Talovic. Brown and Hautala each were sentenced to a year of probation. Hunter's sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 14.
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com