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OGDEN — A man who was cleared of fatally shooting his girlfriend in self-defense during a fight has pleaded guilty to illegally having guns in his home.
Scott William Sandlin, 45, pleaded guilty March 30 to two counts of possession of a weapon by a restricted person, a third-degree felony, as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Additional charges were dismissed in exchange for Sandlin's plea, including permitting a child to be exposed to a controlled substance, a third-degree felony; two more counts of possession of a weapon by a restricted person; possession of marijuana or Spice, a class B misdemeanor; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor.
Sandlin told police he was arguing with his girlfriend, Jenna Manuel, 30, in their Riverdale home on Super Bowl Sunday last year when she came at him with a knife. Fearing for his life, Sandlin said he shot Manuel to protect himself.
According to a search warrant, Manuel was shot twice in the chest and once in the stomach. Officers found a butcher knife in her hand, with the knife's blade, not its handle, in Manuel's partially open palm, the warrant noted.
The shooting was determined to be justified self-defense, and Sandlin never faced any criminal charges in Manuel's death. However, as police responded to the home at 4400 Parker Drive, they found marijuana and drug paraphernalia, and because he had marijuana in his system, Sandlin was restricted from possessing firearms at the time, police said.
Manuel's 9-year-old daughter was in her bedroom when the shooting occurred, according to police, and marijuana found in the home was within the child's reach.
Sentencing for Sandlin is scheduled for June 1. He faces a potential sentence of up to five years in prison for each charge. According to plea documents, Sandlin is eligible to have the conviction reduced to a misdemeanor after successfully completing probation.
According to court records, Sandlin's prior criminal history in Utah is minimal outside of minor traffic violations. He paid a fine for disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor, in 2000. Police said at the time they had not responded to any prior domestic violence reports in the home.
