Philly Ex-councilman's Guns Melted Down By Mistake
Rick Mariano, a former city councilman, took $28,000 in bribes from small businesses seeking tax breaks.
A former Philadelphia councilman, behind bars for corruption, is the victim of a mistaken meltdown.
Police said Rick Mariano's gun collection was melted down along with other firearms the department periodically destroys due to a clerical mix-up.
Mariano's family discovered the error recently when trying to claim the guns to sell them.
Police said Mariano's family asked that his four handguns, four rifles, and a shotgun be taken for safekeeping shortly after the councilman was indicted on federal corruption charges in 2005. The guns were melted down in 2008.
“It’s obvious this wasn’t supposed to happen. It looks to be an error,” said Philadelphia police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The day before Mariano’s guns were taken for safekeeping, he stunned friends by taking a ride in an elevator to the top of the City Hall tower. Friends said Mariano was known to carry a gun –a 9mm glock--strapped to his ankle and feared he was planning to commit suicide knowing he was about to be indicted on federal corruption charges, according to the paper.
Mariano was convicted in 2006 of taking $28,000 in bribe. He is serving a 61/2-year sentence and should be released from the Fort Dix Federal Correctional Facility in March 2012.
His family could not be reached for comment.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 10 Philadelphia
Posted Monday, Sep 28, 2009 - 4:12 PM EST
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