Tags
Casey Viner, Finch Family, gaming, swatting, Tyler Barris, Wichita
The final criminal justice chapter has apparently been written in the Wichita case, as Fox News reports:
An Ohio gamer who recruited a prankster to make a fake emergency call, known as ‘swatting,’ that led to the fatal shooting of a Kansas man by police was sentenced to 15 months in prison on Friday, prosecutors announced.
Casey Viner, 19, was also ordered to pay $2,500 in restitution. He will have two years of supervised release after he leaves prison.
Viner pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy and one count of obstructing justice. He had originally pleaded not guilty but changed his plea in exchange for a lighter sentence. As part of his plea, Viner admitted trying to hide his involvement in the December 2017 episode when he realized the antic had gotten someone killed.
Prosecutors and defense lawyers in their plea agreement had recommended a sentence of two years of probation, with the added condition that Viner be confined for six months to his home unless attending school, work or church. They also jointly recommended the gaming restriction.
But U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren said a prison sentence was required to reflect the seriousness of the offense. It was foreseeable that something bad could happen by calling an armed police force to respond to what officers thought was an escalating situation of violence, he said.
‘We impose sentences not only for what people intend, but what happened,’ Melgren said.
Imagine that. I reported on this development in Update 4 of this series. Enter “wichita” in the SMM homepage search bar for find every article in this series. One wonders if he’ll be able to avoid gaming, or if he doesn’t, will his parole officer know, or care.
[Tyler] Barriss in April was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to 51 felonies nationwide, one of the highest prison sentences ever imposed for “swatting.’
The Finch family’s civil suit has yet to be resolved. I’ll continue to report on the case as developments warrant.