Posted: 3/9/2008 2:15:16 AM EDT
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DetNews.com Saturday, March 8, 2008 Lawyer who bought machine guns sentenced Ex-assistant prosecutor from northern Michigan gets 5 years; two others will be sentenced. Paul Egan / The Detroit News DETROIT -- A federal judge on Friday sentenced a former assistant prosecutor from northern Michigan to more than five years in prison for abusing his office to purchase for his personal use machine guns and silencers the public can't buy. "This strikes me as behavior that is nefarious and dangerous," said U.S. District Judge Robert H. Cleland as he sentenced Gary Theunick to 63 months in prison. A jury in August found Theunick, 58, who was chief assistant prosecutor in Ogemaw County, guilty of 26 counts of conspiracy, false statements and unlawfully receiving firearms. Ogemaw County is in the northeast part of the Lower Peninsula. Two co-defendants, Frederick MacKinnon, the former county prosecutor, and Maxwell Garnett, the former Rose City police chief, await sentencing by Cleland on similar charges. Evidence presented during a three-week trial showed Theunick used his office and official letterhead to obtain seven machine guns and nine silencers, which are heavily restricted under federal law. Cleland said prosecutors in such a small jurisdiction don't need to be armed, let alone with automatic weapons, and there was little or no crime in Rose City. "This offense does not make sense to me unless something else not in evidence was going on," Cleland said. "This to me does not have the overtones of a mere hobbyist." William Van Dusen, Theunick's Waterford attorney, argued at trial that vague wording in the National Firearms Act left it open to interpretation whether Theunick had broken the law. On Friday, he asked Cleland for leniency, citing Theunick's lengthy career of public service. But Cleland sentenced Theunick within the federal sentencing guidelines. "A history of service in a position of public trust should not save a defendant from the consequences of having abused that position," Cleland said. Theunick, who remains free on bond, plans an appeal, Van Dusen said. Garnett is expected to be sentenced next week; MacKinnon on April 8. You can reach Paul Egan at (313) 222-2069 or [email protected]. Link |