(The Center Square) – A Phoenix gun retailer is headed to prison after pleading guilty to selling a firearm to a known felon who later shot a police officer eight times.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced Thursday that Dwayne Keith Anderson, 51, of Phoenix, was sentenced by District Judge Steven P. Logan to six months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Anderson is a Type 1 Federal Firearms Licensee who owns 602 Firearms Instruction in central Phoenix. He pleaded guilty in May to making false statements while purchasing a firearm and aiding and abetting in selling Essa Williams a gun just before he shot Phoenix Police Officer Tyler Moldovan eight times. Williams is accused of attempted first-degree murder.
The DA’s office said Anderson met Williams, who already had several felony convictions, at a gun show. In December 2021, Williams asked Anderson about buying a gun. The attorney’s office said Anderson forged a Firearms Transaction Record using a woman’s information in order to acquire a 9 mm handgun for Williams.
A day later, Williams shot Officer Moldovan, albeit with a different firearm.
“Federal firearms laws and regulations make America safer,” said U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino in the release. “These laws are designed to make it harder for the drivers of violence in our communities to obtain guns. An FFL like Mr. Anderson who sells a firearm to a felon betrays the public trust and places his fellow citizens at risk.”
This case was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a collaboration of multiple levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime.
