SAN DIEGO, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- One of the owners of the diet supplement company Metabolife has been charged in California with 12 counts of weapons violations.
The U.S. Attorney's office in San Diego said Monday Michael Lee Blevins and his wife, Danica, were charged with buying a rifle, shotgun and a handgun along with 500 rounds of ammunition using someone else's name.
Prosecutor Phil Halpern said the federal Brady Act prohibits former felons from purchasing firearms. Blevins has a 1988 conviction for manufacturing methamphetamine.
The defendants were released on a combined $1.1 million bond pending further proceedings.
Metabolife was founded in 1989 and markets herbal weight-loss compounds that have come under government scrutiny in recent years because they contained the compound ephedra, which can in some cases cause heart problems, strokes and dizziness.
