The Golden Valley man who bought the gun used in a New Hope City Hall shooting this year pleaded guilty Friday to "lying and buying" the firearm for a mentally ill man who opened fire outside a police swearing-in ceremony and wounded two officers.

Michael R. Garant pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Joan Ericksen to providing false information to buy the gun from the Full Metal Gun Shop in Princeton. Sentencing hasn't been scheduled, but he is expected to get between a year and 18 months.

Garant has now been convicted of buying guns on behalf of Ray Kmetz, who started firing during a council meeting in January. In response, police fatally shot Kmetz.

What Garant did was act as a straw buyer for Kmetz, who had been civilly committed for mental health problems and found incompetent to stand trial. Kmetz couldn't legally own firearms, but he had won three guns in an online auction through K-Bid Auction, a Maple Plain-based business.

The Full Metal Gun Shop owner tried to call Kmetz about his purchases. He got no response, but later that day, Garant arrived at the store and said he had used the alias "Ray Kmetz" to buy the guns because he didn't want to be contacted by K-Bid, according to the complaint.

At the shop, Garant provided a driver's license, and his National Instant Criminal Background Check came back clean. As part of the process, he signed off on a form with the question: "Are you the actual transferee/buyer of the firearm(s) listed on this form? Warning: You are not the actual buyer if you are acquiring the firearm(s) on behalf of another person. If you are not the actual buyer, the dealer cannot transfer the firearm(s) to you."

Jenni Pinkley — Hennepin County Sheriff, Star Tribune
Michael Garant, 42, of Golden Valley.

Garant responded "yes" to the question. He paid $659.29 in cash for three shotguns, one of which was a Stoeger Model 2000 12-gauge shotgun. Its serial number was later obliterated, but the county crime lab was able to raise it and the guns were tracked to the Duluth Police Department, which had sold them to K-Bid.

Police also found two other shotguns in his car at New Hope City Hall after the shooting.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747

Twitter: @rochelleolson