The man who gave Kyle Rittenhouse the automatic rifle he used in the deadly Kenosha, Wisconsin shootings is set to avoid convictions on the two felonies charges he's facing.
Dominick Black, 20, has agreed to plead guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a non-criminal offense, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Saturday.
Black was charged in November 2020, three months after the shootings, with two felony counts of delivering a dangerous weapon to a minor.
"Black was 18 when he purchased the Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle for Rittenhouse at a hardware store in Rusk County in May that year. At 17, Rittenhouse was too young to legally purchase the weapon," the newspaper reported. "In August 2020, Rittenhouse used it to kill two people and wound a third during protests in Kenosha. In November, a jury found him not guilty, based on his claim of self-defense."
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Black testified for the prosecution during Rittenhouse's trial, where Judge Bruce Schroeder threw out a charge of unlawful possession of firearm by a minor.
"The defense convinced Schroeder that an exception in the law allows 17-year-olds to possess rifles and shotguns, or at least left the law too vague to be enforceable," the newspaper reported. "Black's attorney, Anthony Cotton of Waukesha, had made the same argument for dismissing Black's case. Schroeder is also the judge on Black's case, which is set for a hearing Monday morning."
The newspaper pointed out that Schroeder could still reject the plea agreement, which calls for Black to pay a $2,000 fine and have the felony counts dismissed.
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