Dawn Nguyen found guilty
- Nguyen was found guilty of first-degree falsification of a business record
- Her sentencing is scheduled for May 19. She faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison
- Nguyen bought the guns used by William Spengler in the Dec. 24%2C 2012 Webster shootings
Sheriff's deputies took Dawn Nguyen away in handcuffs Tuesday after a jury found her guilty of a white-collar crime that prosecutors said had placed guns in the hands of a killer who never was supposed to have them.
Nguyen was convicted of first-degree falsification of a business record. Essentially, she was accused of lying on a firearms transaction form in 2010, when she bought a rifle and shotgun at Gander Mountain in Henrietta. Authorities said the guns were not for her, but her neighbor, William Spengler Jr.
A convicted felon who was barred from owning guns, Spengler used those firearms on Christmas Eve 2012 to shoot and kill two West Webster firefighters and wound two others before he committed suicide.
Nguyen showed little reaction as the jury foreman announced the verdict. Sitting in the audience, one of her sisters burst into tears.
West Webster Fire Commissioner Tom Link was unable to go to state Supreme Court in Rochester to hear the verdict, but he said afterward that it was a "huge relief" to see someone held partly responsible for what happened to members of his department.
"To be quite honest, when I heard the verdict, I teared up," he said. "This whole thing has just been such a huge emotional roller coaster for everybody."
Ted Scardino, a firefighter wounded in the attack, said outside the courtroom that justice had been served and that he viewed Nguyen as a co-conspirator in the shooting.
"Nothing will bring back the two guys we lost," Scardino said. "That was all a result of the actions of Dawn Nguyen."
Sentencing for Nguyen is scheduled May 19. She faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
Nguyen's attorney, Matthew Parrinello, argued for her to be released until sentencing, but Justice Thomas Moran ordered her taken into custody.
The jury began deliberating late Monday afternoon and spent much of Tuesday morning listening to a reading of testimony by Monroe County sheriff's Deputy Vincent Petralis. He texted and spoke with Nguyen the day of the shooting.
In a key message, Nguyen texted Petralis that "the guns that were purchased to kill those people were by me," though her attorney argued she was just relaying what an investigator had said to her. In the same exchange, Nguyen denied selling the guns to Spengler.
Jurors also asked the judge more than once to re-read the definition of the charge against Nguyen. The jury had to find that prosecutors proved beyond a reasonable doubt that she caused or made a false entry — essentially, that she lied — on the firearms form.
They also had to determine she did so with the intent to defraud and commit, aid or conceal at least one of two crimes — fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon or criminal purchase of a weapon.
All that may have been a bit confusing to jurors, Assistant District Attorney Timothy Prosperi acknowledged after the verdict. The text messages helped to show her intent, he said.
"This was not about William Spengler," Prosperi said. "It was about getting guns in the hands of a felon."
Prosperi said it was nice to deliver a conviction to West Webster firefighters and others who supported the prosecution. He said he would argue for Nguyen to receive the maximum sentence.
Parrinello said he plans to file an appeal partly because the law in the case is so confusing.
"I don't think the jury had any idea of what (prosecutors) needed to prove," he said outside the courtroom. "That's no fault of theirs."
Parrinello said he did not think prosecutors proved their case, but it was difficult to overcome media coverage of the 2012 shootings.
"This is one of those difficult cases where the presumption of innocence, I don't think, followed her into the courtroom," he said.
Parrinello said he plans to argue for Nguyen to be conditionally released without jail time or probation, given her lack of criminal history.
Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley was in court to hear the verdict.
"There is no such thing as closure," she said afterward. "This is something we're all going to live with for the rest of our days here, but at least there is accountability."
Nguyen also faces federal charges for an illegal purchase of the firearms, selling to a known felon and an unlawful use of marijuana. There is no trial date set in that case.
Spengler set a fire at his Lake Road property and then ambushed emergency responders. He killed volunteer firefighters Tomasz Kaczowka and Michael Chiapperini and wounded both Scardino and Joseph Hofstetter.
The remains of Spengler's sister, Cheryl, were found inside their burned-out home. Authorities believe that Spengler shot her in the head.
DRILEY@DemocratandChronicle.com
What's next
Sentencing for Dawn Nguyen is scheduled for Monday, May 19, and she is facing a maximum of four years in prison. She also is facing federal charges. No trial date has been set in that case. A federal conviction could result in additional prison time.