Man Sentenced for Gun Thefts to Arm Protestors

An Illinois man has been ordered to spend two decades in federal prison for helping steal assault-style rifles and other guns from a store during an alleged plot to sell them to protesters in Ferguson, Missouri.

Twenty-year-old Dakota Moss of Centralia also was sentenced Friday in East St. Louis, Illinois, to pay $30,000 in restitution.

Moss pleaded guilty in April to stealing firearms from a federal licensee, conspiracy to interfere with commerce by violence, carrying a firearm during a violent crime, possession of stolen firearms and being a felon with a firearm.

Authorities say Moss helped steal more than three dozen firearms and 1,000 rounds of ammunition during a burglary last November of a Centralia farm-and-home supply store.

Police say all but two of the stolen weapons have been recovered.