Vancouver man sentenced for firearms offenses

A Vancouver man was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for stealing and selling 26 firearms from a Hazel Dell gun store, of which at least one was later fired at police, the Department of Justice said Monday.

Daniel McNett, 23, was convicted of a Nov. 30, 2010, burglary of Discount Guns on Highway 99. McNett and a getaway driver, Nicholas Southard, 21, made off with one rifle and 25 pistols of various makes and calibers.

The department said the men sold some of the weapons for drugs and cash, including to convicted felons. One of the guns was later fired at a SWAT team attempting to serve a search warrant, although no one was injured.

In asking Judge Benjamin Settle at the U.S. District Court in Tacoma for a lengthy sentence, prosecutors noted that McNett has refused to help law enforcement track down any of the weapons.

“Although law enforcement has been able to recover a handful of the firearms … there are a number of dangerous weapons at large in our community that are likely in the hands of felons, drug users and other criminals at this very moment,” federal prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.

McNett will also face three years of supervised release after his sentence. Southard, his accomplice, was sentenced to more than six years in prison in June.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with assistance from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the Vancouver Police Department.