Coeur d'Alene man sentenced for 'lie and buy' gun crime

COEUR d’ALENE — Alex James Spooner, 23, of Coeur d’Alene, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for unlawfully acquiring a firearm, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced. Spooner was sentenced by United States District Court Judge David C. Nye. Spooner was indicted by a federal grand jury in January.

According to court records, Spooner committed what is commonly known as a “lie and buy” gun crime. A “lie and buy” gun crime occurs when someone buys a gun on behalf of another person while falsely claiming that it is for themselves. Spooner bought seven firearms for another person living in North Dakota. In doing so, Spooner lied to the gun seller by claiming the guns were for him.

Four of the guns that Spooner bought ended up in Chicago. Within eight days of Spooner’s purchase of one of the firearms, it was used in a shooting in Chicago. Another gun bought by Spooner was found 13 days later during a search warrant execution in Chicago.

U.S. District Court Judge David C. Nye also sentenced Spooner to three years supervised release after he is finished with his prison term. While on supervised release, Spooner must follow certain terms and conditions set by Judge Nye, including searches of his person and property as well as drug testing and treatment requirements. Nye noted that while Spooner’s criminal conduct was serious, he also had a lack of any violent criminal history.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the North Idaho Violent Crime Task Force and the Chicago Police Department.