Things that you cannot get put in jail for in Alaska, exploding 300 lbs of explosives that do $15,000 of damage. Really? Even if you are named during the trial of a domestic terrorist?

I know that many of you read about that huge explosion near Riverbanks that happened earlier this month, because I received the link about a dozen times.

I am sure that you would naturally assume that causing such a monster explosion and doing so muhc damage would result in a conviction for SOMETHING. But you my friend would be oh so wrong.

Courtesy of Newsminer:  

The criminal case has been dismissed against a Fairbanks man who was accused of setting off a destructive explosion last month in the Chena Ridge neighborhood. 

Following the explosion, Fairbanks chiropractor and business owner Guy “Chris” Mannino was charged with felony criminal mischief, the crime of recklessly putting the property of others at risk. 

Neighbors said shockwaves from the blast, which was heard as far away as North Pole, did at least $15,000 in damage to windows and other property. 

Alaska State Troopers said there was evidence Mannino detonated the blast and recommended a felony charge under the theory that blowing up more than 300 pounds of explosives put more than $100,000 in property at risk. 

A Fairbanks grand jury disagreed last week. Asked to indict Mannino to continue the prosecution, the grand jury returned a “no true bill” instead of an indictment. 

“The grand jury, after careful deliberation, decided that Mr. Mannino’s conduct was not criminal in nature,” Fairbanks District attorney Michael Gray said by e-mail. 

Because the grand jury failed to indict, the state cannot again pursue the case unless new evidence emerges. In some cases the state can pursue misdemeanor charges if the grand jury does not indict, but in this case the misdemeanor version of criminal mischief corresponds with the crime of intentionally damaging up to $500 worth of property, not Mannino’s alleged reckless conduct.

Now look I live in Alaska, and I know that there are a lot of things you can get away with up here that would have your ass in jail for years down in the lower 48. You know like firing your weapon into the air at night, driving your snowmachine down the middle of the road, raping a reindeer, you know things like that.

However you might assume that setting off an explosion that does $15,000 worth of damage and puts $100,000 worth of property at risk, would get you SOME time in jail. Right?

So I thought to myself who does this Guy Mannino fellow know? And why is his name vaguely familiar?

And I found that answer in a transcript of the Schaeffer Cox trial put together by our friend Jeanne Devon over at the Mudflats. This is from a portion of an FBI surveillance tape that was played in court, of a conversation between FBI informant Bill Fulton, defendant Lonnie Vernon, and the other FBI informant JR Olson:  

The next snippet of conversation talks about grenades and fuses, C4 explosive, and silencers, which are also called ‘supressors.’ This conversation takes place the night after the convention. 

 FULTON: That whole — that’s what I’m saying, but you also want good ones… They have to be brand new but off the books. I know a couple of gun shops in the area. That’s not a problem. 

VERNON: Really, no kidding? 

OLSON: That’s all I want to know. 

FULTON: That’s prepay, and you’re going to wait six months for it. 

VERNON: Really, no kidding? 

FULTON: Yeah. because they’re going to want cash, and in order to make it clean it’s got to get lost… It’s not like they can just order one up. 

VERNON: You can’t grind the numbers, weld over it and that kind of stuff? 

FULTON: No, no, no, no, because each one of those is accountable. 

VERNON: Oh, I gotcha. 

FULTON: You see what I’m saying? So, let’s say that I go to him and I give him a thousand dollars, okay? It’s going to take a while for him to order the piece to begin with, because it’s not like anybody stocks them. Order it, get it shipped, do the paperwork, get it lost, and then get it to me, yeah. 

VERNON: I was going to ask you, you don’t deal with an Mannino, do you? 

FULTON: Who’s Mannino? No. 

VERNON: Okay. 

FULTON: Who is he? 

OLSON: He’s a dealer. 

VERNON: No, no, no, no, no, no. He’s a tour president and everybody — he’s in the ‘dot gov’ thing. He is a worm … 

FULTON: Okay, who is this asshole? (…) 

OLSON: He’s a chiropractor. 

VERNON: He’s the one that — he’s a meddler. 

OLSON: He’s got class three. 

VERNON: Oh, yeah, he’s got — he’s got explosives and everything. But, if you try to buy… 

OLSON: Don’t deal with him. 

VERNON: If you try to buy something from him, all of a sudden you make the list, on his list, and all of his buddies are the cops, FBI, everything. He is such a smartass. 

Here is what Jeanne wrote about the guy they were talking about: 

The twerpish, wormy, meddling, smartass, chiropractic asshole turns out to be a Dr. G. Chris Mannino from Fairbanks – a chiropractor who also happens to be a Class 3 gun dealer. If he is the same G. Chris Mannino that has (or had) a business called Arms & Equipment, and was listed as a Class 3 dealer in Fairbanks.

Okay so now do you get it?

Perhaps if you are a regular Joe Blow in Alaska, and you blow a giant hole in the state, you might go to jail. But if you are a gun dealing chiropractor, with ties to certain militia members, and lots of cop buddies, well....

Things that make you go, hmmm.