Phoenix man sentenced for providing gun to alleged shooter of officer Tyler Moldovan

PHOENIX — A Phoenix man was sentenced to six months in prison for providing a weapon to the alleged shooter of officer Tyler Moldovan, authorities said Thursday.

Dwayne Keith Anderson, 51, was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty on May 24 to one count of aiding and abetting the making of a false statement during the purchase of a firearm, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

Anderson, who was a federal firearms licensee, met Essa Williams at a gun show and told him he could help him avoid a background check, prosecutors said.

Williams texted Anderson a woman’s information, including her photo identification. Anderson filled out the firearms transaction record with her information, including her signature.  He then sold Williams a Masterpiece Arms Defender 9mm pistol.

Williams could not legally possess a firearm because he had previously been convicted of numerous felonies.

The gun in the case was not connected to the Dec. 14, 2021 shooting of Moldovan, authorities said.

“Federal firearms laws and regulations make America safer,” U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino said in the release. “These laws are designed to make it harder for the drivers of violence in our communities to obtain guns.

“An FFL like Mr. Anderson who sells a firearm to a felon betrays the public trust and places his fellow citizens at risk.”

Williams is accused of shooting Moldovan multiple times near 15th Avenue and Camelback Road after officers were called to the area about vehicles driving erratically and located a car that matched the description of one of them at a nearby apartment complex.

Moldovan found Williams hiding behind a short wall of an apartment patio prior to the shooting.

Two others who have pleaded guilty to illegally providing guns to Williams — his mother and girlfriend — are awaiting sentencing.

Williams’ trial is set to begin in October.

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