PORTLAND — A Strong woman on Monday dodged jail time for having made false statements while buying a gun for a man who sold it out of state.

Kayla McDonald, 32, bought a gun from a federally licensed firearms dealer on behalf of a Lewiston man who was reselling guns from Maine in Massachusetts and New York.

The gun McDonald sold to him was one of nearly 80 guns investigators believe Abdullahi “T” Issak resold out of state.

He was sentenced in November 2023 to 10 years in federal prison.

Straying from the federal recommended guideline sentencing range of 12-18 months in prison, U.S. District Court Judge John A. Woodcock imposed three years of probation on McDonald.

A prosecutor had urged a one-year-and-a-day sentence.

Unlike many of the drug-addicted clients of Issak, McDonald didn’t abuse drugs.

At age 14, she left the home of her alcoholic parents where she said she was verbally and physically abused. She later dropped out of high school.

After experiencing the death of her children’s father and her own father, McDonald became a severe alcoholic, consuming a 12-pack of beer and shots of liquor daily, according to her attorney, Amber Tucker, who urged the judge Monday not to impose jail time.

McDonald was later diagnosed with anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder.

Tucker said her client had reached one year of sobriety earlier this month and has been promoted in her job at a retail chain to assistant manager.

In a letter to the judge read by Tucker, McDonald wrote that she took full responsibility for her actions resulting in the felony.

She has been getting mental health and substance abuse counseling and seeking to regain custody of her twin sons, she wrote.

“I know what I did was serious,” she wrote.

She had completed a couple of semesters of college and hopes to return to earn a degree, Tucker said.

Prosecutors said McDonald filled out purchase forms for a Glock model 19 9 mm pistol July 24, 2022, at a Buckfield gun shop that holds a federal firearms license.

On the form, McDonald “misrepresented as true, correct and complete … that she was the actual transferee/buyer of the firearms and she was not buying them on behalf of another person when, in fact, (McDonald) purchased the firearms at the direction of and with funds provided by a co-conspirator,” according to a grant jury indictment.

She also misrepresented her residential address at the time, according to the indictment.

McDonald tried and failed to buy two more guns from a different firearms dealer, prosecutors said.

While on probation, McDonald is barred from having or using alcohol or other intoxicants.

She must submit to testing for substance use.

“The reason you’re here is alcohol,” Judge Woodcock told McDonald.

“You really have a choice,” he said, “return to alcohol or lead a sober life.”