Last week, Eric Celaya, a 30-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona, received an eight-month prison sentence for illegally purchasing firearms for Jaime Tran, who used them in the February shootings of two Jewish men outside a Los Angeles shul, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona. The sentencing follows Celaya’s guilty plea in May to making a false statement during the gun purchase.

The Justice Department reported that Celaya, who has no prior criminal history, was unaware of Tran’s intent to commit a hate crime. Celaya admitted to falsely stating he was the actual buyer of the firearms when he bought them on Jan. 19, 2023, in Tempe, Arizona, though he knew he was purchasing the weapons for Tran.

In addition to his prison term, Celaya will serve three years of supervised release. The Justice Department noted that there was no evidence Celaya was aware of Tran’s intentions or beliefs at the time of the purchase.

The two Jewish men targeted in Tran’s attack on Feb. 15 and 16 survived the shootings. Tran, who pleaded guilty in June to hate crimes, was sentenced last month to 35 years in prison. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that Tran had “obsessed over his antisemitic hatred for years” and planned the two-day assault with the intent to kill Jews leaving synagogue.

“After years of spewing antisemitic vitriol, the defendant planned and carried out a two-day attack attempting to murder Jews,” Garland said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)