Wyoming grandmother gets prison time for straw gun buys tied to officer’s killing

A 71-year-old Sheridan woman is headed to federal prison after admitting she bought three handguns for her son — a convicted felon who later used one to kill a police officer.

Eileen Marie Hurley pleaded guilty in June to two federal counts stemming from a May 2022 gun-buying spree: two 9mm pistols and a .22 revolver. Prosecutors said she signed the required paperwork claiming she was the actual buyer, then turned the weapons over to her son, William Lowery. A US District Court judge in Cheyenne sentenced her last week to one year and one day behind bars, followed by a year of supervised release.

Lowery, 46, fatally shot Sheridan Police Sgt. Nevada Krinkee on Feb. 13, 2024, as Krinkee tried to serve him a trespass notice outside a rental where Lowery had been evicted. After the shooting, Lowery barricaded himself in a nearby house. Thirty hours later, officers shot and killed him as he ran from the home with a rifle.

Investigators said one of the pistols Hurley purchased was found in the bathroom of the barricaded house. The other two handguns — along with ammunition Hurley also bought in 2022 — turned up in Lowery’s truck. Although Hurley initially told authorities she didn’t know where her son got the guns, texts recovered by investigators showed she bought them specifically for him despite knowing he was a violent felon with a history of domestic abuse and drug use, according to the US Attorney’s Office.

“If you buy a gun for a known violent prohibited person and they use that gun to commit a violent crime, you will be prosecuted,” US Attorney Darin Smith said in announcing the sentence, offering condolences to Sgt. Krinkee’s family and the Sheridan Police Department.

Hurley was indicted in January on four counts — three tied to the firearms and one for falsely completing the purchase paperwork — before striking a plea to two charges. She has until Nov. 17 to report to the Bureau of Prisons. The judge strongly recommended she serve her time at Federal Medical Center Lexington, which houses inmates who need medical or mental health care and has an adjacent minimum-security camp for women.

The original story by Logan Smith for CBS News.