Requests to sell guns put on hold

Mann’s appeal in bomb case comes first, U.S. judge rules

A federal judge in Little Rock said Friday that he doesn't want to address requests to sell Randeep Mann's gun collection until a pending appeal is resolved.

Mann, a former Russellville physician, is serving a life sentence in federal prison for orchestrating a grenade explosion on Feb. 4, 2009, that nearly killed another doctor, Trent Pierce, who was then the chairman of the state Medical Board. At the time, the board was looking into concerns about Mann's prescribing practices that had the potential to result in his medical license being permanently revoked.

At issue are 109 guns, including machine guns and antique collectors' items, that federal agents seized from Mann while he was facing charges and awaiting trial in connection with the explosion, which left Pierce with serious, permanent injuries, including the loss of sight in one eye and the loss of hearing in one ear.

Prosecutors initially wanted to destroy 15 guns, mostly machine guns, that were confiscated a month after the explosion and turned out to be unrelated to Mann's criminal case. The government has also sought to take possession of 94 other weapons that were seized in August 2009, while Mann was in custody but before he was tried.

In June, after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in May that allows court-ordered transfers of a felon's legally owned guns to certain third parties, prosecutors dropped their request to destroy the first 15 guns seized. Still, prosecutors have resisted Pierce's efforts to have all the guns inspected and then sold by a certified firearms dealer so that the proceeds can be used to pay part of a $122.5 million judgment he won against Mann in a civil jury trial in Crittenden County.

Mann's wife, Sangeeta Mann, also wants the gun collection sold, but says she should get half the proceeds. Prosecutors have opposed her request on the grounds that she is also a felon and thus cannot legally be in possession of firearms. She was convicted of obstructing the federal investigation into the explosion, for which she served a year in prison and paid a $50,000 fine.

Randeep Mann's 2010 convictions for use of a weapon of mass destruction and other charges were upheld in late 2012 by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a further appeal. But on Oct. 20, 2014, Mann filed a petition to vacate, set aside or correct his sentence based on what he maintains are "egregious violations" of his constitutional rights that led to his conviction. He is being represented in that case by attorney John William Simon.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Miller issued an order Friday administratively terminating the motions concerning the weapons until the latest appeal is concluded.

Metro on 07/25/2015

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