CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A felon whom authorities have linked to white supremacist groups could be sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for stockpiling 18 guns, body armor and 40,000 rounds of ammunition.

Documents filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Toledo indicate that prosecutors seek to nearly double the sentence of Richard Schmidt, whose manslaughter conviction prevents him from possessing weapons. Schmidt's sentencing range originally was set by a probation officer at 63 to 78 months in prison for illegally possessing the weapons and running a counterfeit clothing scheme, said Edward Bryan, Schmidt's attorney.

But Bryan said prosecutors pushed to increase the sentence to 121 to 151 months based on two issues: one of the weapons Schmidt had was stolen and the guns were possessed in connection with the commission of the counterfeiting.

Bryan has objected, saying there is insufficient evidence to indicate that the gun was stolen, as its original owner failed to report it to police. The owner only said it was stolen after he was approached by law enforcement, Bryan said. He also said Schmidt never intended to use the weapons to further the counterfeiting scheme, which funneled low quality, fake NFL jerseys and baseball caps from China to his sports memorabilia shop in Bowling Green.

U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary can use the sentencing range as a guide. Based on Bryan's objections, Zouhary pushed the sentencing back from Monday to Nov. 26.

Mike Tobin, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office, declined to comment Wednesday.

Schmidt, 48, pleaded guilty to federal gun and counterfeiting charges in July. The case began as federal agents tracked the packages of counterfeit goods to Schmidt. They later seized the weapons during searches of Schmidt's property.



They also found possible links to white supremacist groups. He had a VHS tape of a national meeting of the National Socialist Movement and stickers from the National Alliance, according to an inventory of seized items filed in U.S. District Court in Toledo. Agents also obtained notes with the names of Jewish and NAACP leaders in Detroit.

Schmidt had killed a man in 1989 and wounded two others in a confrontation that authorities say began when the dead victim approached Schmidt with a baseball bat. He served 13 years in prison for the crimes. To law enforcement, his case highlights the relative ease in which felons can land weapons without a hint of suspicion. Under federal law, violent felons cannot possess weapons.

Bryan calls Schmidt a hoarder, not a threat. He said Schmidt is a loner who collected food and gasoline to prepare for the possibility of society's collapse.

Documents say authorities began tracking shipments of counterfeit goods in September 2011.

That's when authorities searched a package addressed to Schmidt from a trading company in China. A manifest listed the contents as men's clothing. But investigators instead found 55 NFL jerseys, "the quality of which was found to be very low,'' the affidavit said.

Agents tracked several other packages labeled as men's clothing, women's camisoles and women's purses. Each had caps and jerseys from various pro sports leagues. The jerseys had misspellings on labels, poor stitching and color inconsistency, according to court documents.