B.C. man gets prison sentence, fine for using fake names to buy guns in the U.S.

MISSOULA — A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., 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.

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.”