Lancaster woman gets 10 months in prison for illegal gun purchase scam

A Lancaster woman was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison Thursday for a gun purchase scam in which she claimed a gun she had was stolen but it was really bought for someone else.

Authorities called it an illegal “straw” purchase.

Lillie Mae Govea, 26, pleaded guilty to the crime, said William Witherspoon, Assistant U.S. Attorney for South Carolina.

In 2014, Govea told police in Lancaster that someone stole her pistol out of her trunk, but the scheme unraveled when her boyfriend told police the couple had bought the gun for someone else.

The gun later ended up in the hands of a convicted felon and was seized after other police action, prosecutors said.

This story was originally published February 24, 2017 at 9:18 AM with the headline "Lancaster woman gets 10 months in prison for illegal gun purchase scam."