Montco man, convicted in slaying, pleads guilty to weapons charges

A Montgomery County lawyer who was convicted of killing a man whom he said he mistook for a deer pled guilty today in federal court to possessing 19 guns that he was barred from owning because of a prior conviction.

A June sentencing hearing was scheduled for David Manilla, 51, of Worcester Township.

In November 2010, Manilla shot and killed Barry Groh, 52, of Quakertown, who was hunting on the border of Manilla's property in Richland Township, Bucks County. He was convicted in 2011.

Manilla told police at the time that he mistook Groh, who was about 90 yards away, for a deer. But the Bucks County judge in the case, Albert J. Cepparulo, said "I think you should consider yourself lucky. This case was as close to a murder case as I've seen." He was sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and firearms offenses.

Manilla at the time was barred from owning weapons because in 1985 he was convicted of aggravated assault for breaking a man's skull by smashing a weightlifting bar over his head.

According to the plea memo entered in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, Manilla had moved 86 guns to the property owned by his common-law wife. She then called police, who seized 19 of them -- seven rifles and 12 shotguns.

Robert Goldman, Manilla's attorney, said that Manilla didn't know he couldn't own the guns.

"Regrettably, he was a hunter and a collector of hunting guns, and he said he was unaware that he couldn't maintain the guns," Goldman said.

The maximum jail sentence for Manilla would be 10 years for the crime, according to Patty Hartman, a federal court spokeswoman.