Man pleads guilty to selling pistol to Texas synagogue hostage-taker

DALLAS — A man who sold a pistol to a man who used it to hold four hostages inside a Texas synagogue before being fatally shot by the FBI early this year pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal gun crime, the US Department of Justice said.

Henry “Michael” Dwight Williams, 32, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, prosecutors said.

Williams sold Malik Faisal Akram the weapon Arkam used when he entered Congregation Beth Israel in the Dallas-area suburb of Colleyville on January 15 and held the synagogue’s rabbi and three others hostage, according to prosecutors.

Williams faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

A sentencing date has not been set.

Williams, who previously was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and attempted possession of a controlled substance, sold Akram a semi-automatic pistol on January 13.

Henry Dwight Williams (Dallas County Jail)

In plea papers, Williams admitted to possession of that firearm despite his prior conviction, prosecutors said.

Akram, a 44-year-old British citizen, held hostages while demanding the release of a federal prisoner.

The standoff ended after more than 10 hours when the temple’s rabbi threw a chair at Akram and fled with the other two remaining hostages just as an FBI tactical team was moving in.

None of the hostages were injured.