FAIRBANKS — A former Fairbanks chiropractor will be sentenced in May in a murder-for-hire case.
Guy Christopher Mannino was found guilty by a federal jury Friday of three out of five counts, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.
Prosecutors say Mannino tried to hire his jailhouse friend Julius “J.T.” Chambers to kill a witness, an FBI agent and an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The witness would have testified Mannino tried to hire him in a separate murder-for-hire plot that was not carried out and did not result in charges. Court records say the witness told authorities Mannino promised him illegal firearms in exchange for killing the attorney representing his opponent in a lawsuit.
Mannino pleaded guilty to firearms offenses, but later learned the testimony could have impacted his sentencing for the illegal transfer and possession of weapons.
Prosecutors say Mannino wanted to prevent the witness’s testimony and retaliate against agents involved in the investigation.
Jurors acquitted Mannino of trying to have his former attorney killed, as well as another ATF agent.
Defense attorney Scott Dattan said he felt terrible about the verdict, and that his client is a talkative person.
“As soon as I took his case I told him to stop talking to people, but unfortunately he never did,” Dattan said. “I think this was a case of jailhouse braggadocio, but the government took it seriously.”
