A federal judge on Monday sentenced Stevie Marie Vigil to 27 months in prison for giving parolee Evan Ebel the gun he used to kill Colorado’s prisons chief and a pizza delivery driver.

Vigil pleaded guilty to buying the 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun used by Ebel to kill Nathan Leon on March 17, 2013, and Department of Corrections director Tom Clements two days later. She pleaded guilty to one count of providing a firearm to a felon.

“Today, Stevie Vigil lost her freedom for giving a handgun to a known felon,” said George Brauchler, district attorney for the 18th Judicial District. “Her reckless disregard for the law resulted in the cold-blooded murder of two good men — two good fathers, husbands and sons.”

U.S. District Judge Christine M. Arguello said there was no evidence Vigil knew or could have predicted Ebel’s plan. She said Ebel sought out women he could manipulate and get to do his bidding.

The judge said Ebel also asked others to buy him a gun. She said he clearly would have obtained a gun eventually.

“Mr. Ebel was a very bright and intelligent man who was also a sociopath,” Arguello said.

Still, she said Vigil’s conduct was “illegal and cannot be condoned.”

Prosecutors had sought a six-year prison sentence, but Arguello said she would not go beyond the 21 to 27 months called for in guidelines. She also ordered Vigil to spend three years on supervised parole.

Earlier, the judge heard testimony from Leon’s family and a Texas sheriff’s deputy who was shot three times by Ebel just minutes before a wild chase and shootout left Ebel dead. Vigil declined to speak at the hearing.

John Leon, whose son, Nathan, was Ebel’s first victim, criticized the judge for what he felt was a lenient sentence.

“She was wrong,” Leon said. “Stevie Vigil knew that (Ebel) was going to do something bad.”

Leon noted that Arguello read a lengthy statement from the bench before issuing the sentence.

“If she already made up her mind, I wish she would have told us, and then we could have avoided the pain of having to come here and testify today,” Leon said.

So far, nearly one year after the killings, Vigil is the only person to face prosecution in the crimes that federal prosecutors say Ebel committed. Authorities have said they are investigating whether Ebel, 28, acted alone or in concert with fellow members of a white supremacist prison gang, the 211 Crew.

Vigil, 23, was Ebel’s childhood friend. She bought the gun from an Englewood shop on March 6, 2013.

Vigil, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, arrived in handcuffs Monday morning. Family members of the victims — including Leon’s widow, Katie Leon — exchanged hugs. The courtroom was divided with Vigil’s family on one side and victims’ families on the other.

Ebel lured Leon to a truck stop by ordering a pizza, shot him to death and dumped his body in Golden. Ebel then used Leon’s uniform two days later when he killed Clements at his Monument home.

The uniform, along with a hit list, was found in a black 1991 Cadillac DeVille after Ebel was shot to death on March 21, 2013, after fleeing to Texas.

Police also found a recording in which Ebel had forced Leon to read a statement denouncing prison authorities for keeping inmates in solitary confinement.

A video played in court Monday showed Montague County sheriff’s Deputy James Boyd pulling Ebel over on a traffic stop. Boyd walked up to the passenger window, and Ebel immediately fired four shots, hitting Boyd three times. Ebel then sped off into traffic.

“I remember seeing the cartridges expended out of the handgun,” said Boyd, who fell and rolled on the ground for several minutes, trying to get up, while blood streamed down his forehead. “I’ve been shot,” he finally manages to say into a shoulder radio. Boyd later had brain surgery.

During the hearing, an emotional Boyd urged the judge to issue a harsh sentence. “I feel she should be charged with not only my aggravated assault but the murders of the two men,” Boyd said.

After shooting Boyd, Ebel led other deputies on a 100- mile-per-hour chase, weaving in and out of traffic. A dashboard video shows him firing several shots along the way until he smashes into a tractor-trailer. Ebel then died in a shootout with deputies.

MOBILE USERS: Watch the videos here.

NEW: Evan Ebel killed in shootout with Texas deputies

“Shots fired, suspect is down!” one of the deputies says.

Prosecutors showed a picture of one patrol car that had a bullet hole in the windshield at about the level of a head. The bullet entered the officer’s headrest. When Boyd was asked why the officer wasn’t wounded, he replied, “The only thing I heard is that he is too short.”

Jeffrey Russell, a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified that Vigil lied on her application when she bought the gun. She signed a release pledging that she was not buying the gun for a felon.

“Without a doubt, she knew he was a felon on parole,” Russell said.

Russell testified that Vigil knew Ebel was part of the 211 Crew, which he described as one of Colorado’s most violent and dangerous prison gangs.

Russell said his name has repeatedly appeared on the gang’s hit lists. When parolee Jeremiah Barnum, 38, was fatally shot by an officer in Englewood in 2012, Barnum had Russell’s name and address in his possession. Barnum had gone to prison in 1997 for his role in the murder of African immigrant Oumar Dia.

During testimony, John Leon described his response after hearing his son had been shot to death.

“The world just ended. My world ended,” Leon said. “I can’t sleep. It doesn’t get any easier after 50 weeks. … You can barely function. There are bad days and worse days.”

Leon said Vigil knew what she was doing when she put a gun into Ebel’s hands.

“Evan Ebel, as far as I can tell, was an evil person,” Leon said. “But to give a weapon to an evil person — I’m sorry, you had to expect something bad was going to happen.”

Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, denverpost.com/coldcases or twitter.com/kmitchelldp