A former gun dealer in Alaska was sentenced to prison Wednesday for possessing illegal weapons that he allegedly wanted to be used to kill the lawyer of former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, according to multiple reports.
Prosecutors said Guy Mannino, 56, a former gun dealer, explosives expert and chiropractor in Fairbanks, Alaska, was going to provide a hit man with the weapons, according to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner newspaper.
Mannino wanted the hit man to shoot attorney John Tiemessen, according to prosecutors. The incident was unrelated to Palin herself, the Associated Press reported.
The News-Miner reported that Tiemessen was representing a client in a case against Mannino, which Mannino thought he was going to lose.
Mannino offered a fully-automatic Sten submachine gun along with a silencer and a Glock “sear” to a man who occasionally worked for him, the News-Miner reported.
The plot was reportedly foiled when the potential hit man told Alaska State Troopers about the plan to kill the lawyer.
Mannino reportedly accepted a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and was sentenced to three years in prison for concealing bankruptcy assets and possession of illegal weapons, the News-Miner reported.
Mannino is also scheduled to stand trial for a second plot involving murder-for-hire to kill federal officers related to his original criminal case, the News-Miner reported.