FILE - U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten talks about the more than 100 recovered stolen handguns during a news conference, Nov. 21, 2023, in Benton Township, Mich. A man pleaded guilty Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in a wild scheme to steal 123 handguns by kidnapping the manager of a Michigan sporting goods store and threatening him at gunpoint to reveal how to turn off the alarm. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP, File)
July 22, 2024 - 2:22 PM
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A man who kidnapped the manager of a Michigan sporting goods store and held him at gunpoint while an accomplice stole 123 handguns was sentenced Monday to 15 years in federal prison.
The Dunham's Sports manager was handcuffed and blindfolded outside his home last November and forced to reveal how to disarm the alarm at the big-box store near Benton Harbor, 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Chicago.
Dontrell Nance, 25, was given consecutive sentences for kidnapping and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, according to online court records. He pleaded guilty in April.
Nicole Grant told U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney that her son had a turbulent childhood and “significant challenges,” including mental health problems.
Another man, Darnell Bishop, pleaded guilty in the case and is awaiting sentencing. He went into the store and hauled the guns out in coolers while Nance stayed with the manager in a car, authorities said.
The handguns, worth more than $100,000, were eventually recovered, said federal agents, who believed the guns would have been sold on the street.
News from © The Associated Press, 2024