Illinois man admits gun thefts as part of alleged plot to arm Ferguson protesters

An Illinois parolee faces up to two decades in federal prison after admitting in court he helped steal assault-style rifles and other firearms from a store in what authorities say was his plot to sell them to protesters in Ferguson, Missouri.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1zqgzuc ) reports that 19-year-old Dakota Moss, of Centralia, pleaded guilty Wednesday in East St. Louis to five felony counts, most of them gun-related.

Authorities say Moss played a role in stealing the firearms and 1,000 rounds of ammunition during a November burglary of a Centralia store.

The break-in came days after sometimes-violent protests resurfaced in Ferguson after a grand jury decided not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson in the August shooting death of black, unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown.