Court turns down appeal over weapons sentences

[April 02, 2013]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court is leaving in place mandatory 30-year prison terms for two Atlanta men who tried to provide a machine gun and other assault weapons to people they thought were Mexican drug traffickers.

Mark Anthony Beckford and Randy Vana Haile, Jr., appealed the 30-year terms because they said the government should have proved, but did not, that they knew one of the weapons was a machine gun capable of firing automatically. Beckford and Haile met with undercover federal agents who said they were working with a Mexican drug cartel. A jury found that the defendants agreed to provide the weapons and money in exchange for cocaine and marijuana.

In all, Haile received 39 years and Beckford, 36, in federal prison.

The justices turned away their appeals without comment Monday.

[Associated Press]

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