The gunman behind the Dayton shooting was a serious piece of work. He’d broken plenty of laws in his quest to commit mass murder, which is hardly surprising. The guy had some serious issues from what I’ve been able to see.

However, he had a friend who was knee-deep in the gunman’s drug-fueled lifestyle.

That friend got looked at by police following the shooting. That led to his arrest on several weapons charges. Now, he’s pled guilty.

Ethan Kollie is now awaiting his fate.

On Wednesday, in U.S. District Court, the friend of the Dayton shooter pleaded guilty to federal charges.

First, Kollie admitted he lied on ATF Form 4473 when purchasing a Micro Draco semi-automatic, 30-round pistol. He also admitted to being an unlawful user of drugs while in possession of a firearm.

The judge accepted his pleas and set his sentencing for Feb. 20.

“Ultimately, what it came down to, is that he wanted to take responsibility for his actions,” said Nick Gounaris, the defense attorney for Kollie.

Gounaris and his partner, Antony Abboud, also argued before the judge a motion asking for Kollie’s release prior to sentencing.

“At the end of the day, he marked on a form and wasn’t truthful on a form, and historically, what I’ve seen from this court and from other federal courts is that this is a type of a case that typically recommends release,” Gounaris said. “I don’t think he’s a danger. I think that we have the benefit of federal pretrial services, who prepared a report. They believe that there are conditions for his release, and we just hope that the court follows those conditions.”

For what it’s worth, the government disagreed and argued that the drug use represents a continued threat to the public.

The government also claims that Kollie bought body armor, a 100-round magazine, and firearm parts for the eventual gunman. That said, they aren’t saying he had knowledge of what the killer planned to do, so I’m not completely sure that those purchases are germane to much of anything. We’ll have to wait and see what pans out there.

There are still a lot of questions being asked, particularly about Kollie and any potential role he might have played or whether he even suspected. Then again, it’s also possible that he was so drugged out of his mind that he wouldn’t have noticed a red flag if it jumped up on his face and twerked.

Regardless, Kollie is looking at spending the next several months in jail prior to his sentencing, which is set for February.

I can’t say that I have much sympathy for the man. The laws about drug use and guns are among those laws that few people really seem interested in repealing just now, after all. There’s a lot of reasons why they exist and while they may or may not actually accomplish anything, few want to make them go away.

We’ll have to keep an eye on what happens with this case, if for no other reason than to put a stamp on the whole Dayton fiasco.