EASTON, Pa. (AP) - A state appeals court says Pennsylvania authorities cannot prosecute a woman accused of having illegally purchased a gun later used to kill a state trooper because she has already been punished by federal authorities.
Thirty-one-year-old Emily Gross was sentenced in 2011 to seven months in federal prison after pleading guilty to lying on a firearms purchase form in 2009 for her boyfriend. She said she listed Daniel Autenrieth’s address because she believed she would soon be moving in with him.
Authorities said Autenrieth later kidnapped his son and led troopers on a high-speed chase before dying in a Monroe County shootout that also killed Trooper Joshua Miller.
Gross argued that the Pennsylvania charges amounted to double jeopardy because of the federal case. A three-judge Pennsylvania Superior Court panel agreed Tuesday.
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