The man who sold the gun used by Malik Faisal Akram to take hostages at a Colleyville synagogue in January was sentenced to nearly eight years in federal prison on a gun charge, authorities said Monday.
Henry “Michael” Dwight Williams, 33, was sentenced to 95 months in prison Monday by Chief U.S. District Judge David Godbey. He was indicated in June on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm after authorities linked him to the gun used by Akram to take four people hostage at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue on Jan. 15.
By the end of the hours-long standoff, the hostages had either been released or escaped unharmed, and Akram was fatally shot by an FBI team.
In phone calls with relatives and in remarks captured on a livestream of the synagogue’s service, Akram said he took hostages in order to raise awareness and call for the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist serving an 86-year prison sentence for assault and attempted murder of a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. Akram likely targeted the synagogue due to its proximity to the Federal Medical Center at Carswell in Fort Worth where Siddiqui is being held.
Investigators tied Williams and Akram together by analyzing the dead gunman’s phone records, according to officials. Williams later admitted to selling Akram the gun about two days before the hostage situation.
