Account Login/Registration

Access VictoriaNow using your Facebook account, or by entering your information below.


Facebook


OR


Register

Privacy Policy

Kelowna man gets prison sentence, $10K fine for using fake names to buy guns in the US

A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.

A statement from the United States Attorney's Office in Montana says Haptei John Kozak pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of making false statements during a firearms transaction.

Judge Donald Molloy also imposed a $10,000 fine and three years of supervised release, along with ordering that Kozak forfeit 12 firearms.

<who>Photo Credit: Missoula County</who>Haptei John Kozak

U.S. attorney Jesse Laslovich says in the statement that black-market firearm smugglers like Kozak contribute to an "epidemic of gun violence nationally and internationally because these weapons often end up in the hands of criminals."

The statement says investigations by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the RCMP found that Kozak used a fake Montana driver's licence and provided other false information to buy 12 firearms in different Montana cities last year.

It says a review of Kozak's text messages and other evidence indicated that he was planning to buy the weapons to sell back in Canada.



Send your comments, news tips, typos, letter to the editor, photos and videos to [email protected].



Weather
webcam icon

weather-icon
Sun
11℃

weather-icon
Mon
13℃

weather-icon
Tue
11℃

weather-icon
Wed
10℃

weather-icon
Thu
10℃

weather-icon
Fri
9℃

Top Stories

Follow Us

Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook
Follow Our Newsletter