Arkansas doctor convicted in bomb attack on medical board head

By Ashley Hayes, CNN

Trent Pierce survived the Februrary bombing outside his West Memphis, Arkansas, home.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Randeep Mann faces up to life in prison at his sentencing
The February 2009 bombing nearly killed Dr. Trent Pierce
Mann was facing disciplinary action before the state medical board

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(CNN) -- A federal jury on Monday convicted an Arkansas doctor in a February 2009 car bomb attack on the head of the state's medical board, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Randeep Mann will face up to life in prison when he is sentenced later, said Cherith Beck, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Court records show Mann's trial began July 6.

Jurors convicted Mann on seven counts, including using a weapon of mass destruction against a person and property, and using an explosive resulting in personal injury.

Dr. Trent Pierce, a family practitioner, suffered serious injuries in the attack and lost an eye, but survived. He was leaving his home in West Memphis, Arkansas, headed to his clinic when a bomb went off as he approached his Lexus hybrid SUV. The blast, heard a mile away, threw Pierce 6 feet into a flower bed. KARK reports on the Arkansas bombing

Mann, whose specialty was internal medicine and pain management, had "multiple disciplinary matters" before the state medical board, federal prosecutors said. Early in the investigation, authorities focused on cases before the board, which oversees licensing of those in medical professions and can discipline professionals by suspending or revoking their licenses in some cases.

Mann's wife, Sangeeta "Sue" Mann, was convicted of conspiring with her husband to conceal evidence and obstruct the investigation, Beck said. She will face up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced.

Authorities said Mann was interviewed by federal agents on the day of the bombing and showed them "at least one grenade launcher he legally owned." However, he was not arrested until a month later, when city employees found partially buried "high explosive rounds designed to be fired from a grenade launcher" in a wooded area of London, Arkansas, authorities said.

Jurors convicted Mann of possession of 98 unregistered grenades and two counts of possessing machine guns, but acquitted him of possessing an unregistered 12-gauge shotgun. Sangeeta Mann was acquitted of lying to a grand jury investigating the unregistered firearms.