Trolley gun seller strikes drug plea

One of the men who sold a gun to Trolley Square shooter Sulejman Talovic has pleaded guilty to unrelated drug charges.

Brenden Taylor Brown, 21, struck a plea deal with prosecutors during an appearance Tuesday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court. In exchange for his guilty pleas, Salt Lake County prosecutors reduced felony charges of attempted possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance to class A misdemeanors. Brown also pleaded guilty to illegal use of a controlled substance, a class B misdemeanor.

According to court records, 3rd District Judge Judith Atherton ordered a pre-sentence report to be completed in time for Brown's sentencing on Jan. 25.

Brown was recently convicted on a federal gun charge in connection with the Trolley Square massacre. In October, he pleaded guilty to selling a firearm to a juvenile and was sentenced to 12 months on probation.

Federal prosecutors said Brown and Mackenzie Hunter sold Talovic a .38 Special revolver that was used in the Feb. 12 mall massacre, which left five people dead and four wounded. Talovic, 18, was killed during a shootout with police. Matthew Hautala also pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents about how the gun came into Hunter and Brown's hands. The trio said they did not know the weapon would be used in a shooting rampage.

A West Valley City gun dealer who sold the shotgun Talovic used in the massacre also struck a plea deal with federal prosecutors. Westley Wayne Hill pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failing to keep federal firearms records and was sentenced to a year of probation.

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