© 2024 Maine Public | Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

Woman Sentenced for Giving Man Gun Used in Police Shootout

PORTLAND, Maine - A Maine woman has been released from jail after being sentenced to time served for giving a gun to a man who later died in a shootout with police.
 
The Portland Press Herald reports that 50-year-old Stephanie Knightly of South Paris was released Monday after spending 63 days in jail.
 
She could have faced up to 10 years for giving the gun to Steven Piirainen, who was killed by police in 2014, but prosecutors said she was not responsible for the shootout.
 
Her lawyer said Piirainen convinced her to give him the gun because he had arranged to sell it to someone else. He said the two had been friends for decades and she had no way of knowing what he intended to do with the gun.