Attorney Gets 10-25 Years for Hunting Death

Montgomery County lawyer was sentenced to as much as 25 years in prison for shooting a man on opening day of hunting season

The Montgomery County attorney who shot and killed a Quakertown man on opening day of hunting season was sentenced 10-25 years in prison Friday.

David Manilla of Worcester, Pa., pleaded no contest in May to involuntary manslaughter charges in the shooting death of 52-year-old Barry Groh. Police say Manilla was hunting recklessly with his uncle -- a former district attorney -- when he killed Groh with a high-powered rifle.

The 49-year-old Manilla was already barred from owning a weapon given a 1985 felony assault conviction. He also once shot a pheasant hunter, authorities say.

Groh was found dead on Nov. 29, 2010 shortly after killing an eight-point buck. Other hunters found the Quakertown man's body shortly after he'd called his family, seeking his son's help to carry the deer out of the woods.

The no-contest plea is treated as a conviction, but can't be used against Manilla in a wrongful-death lawsuit.

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