Stephen Silva Sentenced to Time Already Served

Original story by Liz Taurasi.

Stephen Silva, the man who loaned a gun to the Boston Marathon Bombers, that was used to kill Wilmington native Officer Sean Collier has been sentenced to time served.

Silva was before a judge in U.S. District Court for his sentencing hearing Tuesday morning. He had served 17 months.

Silva initially pleaded innocent in July 2014 to allowing Tsarnaev to borrow a Ruger 9mm two months before the bombings after he said Tsarnaev told him he wanted to rob students at the University of Rhode Island. Last December he changed his plea to guilty.

He was charged with possession of a handgun with an obliterated serial number and seven counts of heroin trafficking.

Laurel J. Sweet of the Boston Herald reports:

Collier was killed four days after the Boston Marathon bombings when he was ambushed in his police cruiser by Tsarnaev and his brother who were at the time at the center of the manhunt that terrorized the state and the region, killing four and injuring more than 170 others.

Collier was living in Somerville at the time of his murder and was due to be sworn in as a police officer before his death. Collier was posthumously sworn in as a Somerville Police officer four months after he was killed.