Board 8 > 19 y/o Gamer SOBS and is BLINDSIDED by a PRISON SENTENCE for SWATTING!!!!

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19 y/o Jerk, Casey Viner from Ohio sobbed UNCONTROLLABLY and was BLINDSIDED by the prison sentence said he was "awfully sorry" to a judge after he hired a man to make a fake SWAT call against another gamer on XBOX One and caused the death of a Kansas Dad!!

He glanced at his parents where they were seated his Mom began BAWLING and got up and left the courtroom and his POLICE OFFICER FATHER Dad put his head into his hands. The prosecutor and defense agreed to only PROBATION for less than 2 years and NO PRISON time but Judge Melgren said he wanted to make a statement against swatters and made an example out of him.

He was upset over a 1.50 bet while playing Call of Duty: WWII Online and was sentenced to 15 months in prison and is also banned from gaming for 2 YEARS while on supervised release as he repeatedly gulped and crestfallen as the judge announced his decision

He plead guilty in April to felony charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice in the hope he WOULDN'T be sentenced to prison.

He admitted in trying to hide his involvement in 2017 when he realized someone got killed as he told the judge he was awfully sorry for anything to happen and he thought about it everyday...

Prosecutors and Defense lawyers agreed to a recommended 2 years on probation with the condition he is confiend for 6 months to his home unless going to work or school or CHURCH as well as the ban on gaming

But Judge Melgren said a prison sentence was required to reflect the seriousness of his offense and give the public a sense that the criminal justice system was working

Viner himself was SWATTED 20 days earlier to the Kansas incident according to his lawyer and said Viner lost 20 POUNDS given the reflection he took on his "harmless prank"

Then 19 y/o Shane Gaskill was also arrested and 25 y/o Tyler Bariss from Los Angeles, who has a reputation was sentenced to 20 years in the big house

28 y/o Andrew Finch was killed and it drew national attention on "swatting"a form of gaming retaliation where someone reports a false emergency to get SWAT team to descend on a fake address given by another gamer

Finch was shot IMMEDIATELY upon opening the door when a police officer shot him out of "surprise"

US Attorney Debra Barnett says she doesn't know what a kid like Viner is gonna get out of sitting on a block with more hardened criminals as she FEARS for his safety

As for the officer who shot Finch, the local district attorney REFUSES to charge the officer because he thought Finch was "reaching" for a gun at the time of the door opening

Do you agree with Judge Melgren on ignoring the prosecutor and defenses agreement for no jail time and gave him a prison sentence anyway?

Casey - Going to the big house





Tyler - 20 years in the big house



Andrew - Deceased





Judge Melgren -


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Still got off with a slap on the wrist

Should have been charged with manslaughter
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Full Throttle posted...

and is also banned from gaming for 2 YEARS

Worse than the prison tbh
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Should have been much longer than 15 months
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ZenOfThunder posted...

Should have been much longer than 15 months

I'm pretty sure this will have permanent damage to his butthole at least. Fair.

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I think that's a fair or even lenient sentence although it seems odd to me that the prosecution agreed to something lighter and the judge overruled it. Is that a thing normally?

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Should've gotten 5 years in prison, and banned from online gaming for life.
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Full Throttle posted...

Finch was shot IMMEDIATELY upon opening the door when a police officer shot him out of "surprise"

This probably has something to do with the caller getting a smaller sentence.
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Did the murderous cop get jail time? That was murder, plain and simple.
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why was he blindsided by the prison sentence that it's been made very publicly clear applies to this crime?

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Tom Bombadil posted...

I think that's a fair or even lenient sentence although it seems odd to me that the prosecution agreed to something lighter and the judge overruled it. Is that a thing normally?

Any time you plea guilty to an agreement they warn you the judge is the ultimate authority and can toss the agreement, but you still are guilty as plead.

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15 months was ridiculously light, given that he essentially killed a guy. I mean, sure, you can say that the authorities responding might are ultimately to blame, but how much of a sentence is conspiracy to commit murder normally? And why did the other guy get 20 years, while he only got 1.25?
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azuarc posted...

15 months was ridiculously light, given that he essentially killed a guy. I mean, sure, you can say that the authorities responding might are ultimately to blame, but how much of a sentence is conspiracy to commit murder normally? And why did the other guy get 20 years, while he only got 1.25?

It probably varies from state to state but in the state I live conspiracy to commit murder is punished the same as actually committing the murder yourself.
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azuarc posted...

15 months was ridiculously light, given that he essentially killed a guy. I mean, sure, you can say that the authorities responding might are ultimately to blame, but how much of a sentence is conspiracy to commit murder normally? And why did the other guy get 20 years, while he only got 1.25?

Apparently there were actually three co-defendants (Viner, Gaskill, and Barriss).

- Viner got into an argument with Gaskill
- Gaskill was like come at me bro, and gave a fake address
- Viner called Barriss and asked him to swat Gaskill (at the fake address)
- Random guy living at the fake address got shot

Barriss is the one who got 20 years. Apparently he already had an extensive criminal record, and this swatting incident wasn't the only thing he was charged with (there was also fraud and a whole bunch of bomb threats).
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Gatarix posted...

Apparently there were actually three co-defendants (Viner, Gaskill, and Barriss).

- Viner got into an argument with Gaskill
- Gaskill was like come at me bro, and gave a fake address

What would Gaskill even be charged with?
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Wikipedia says:

Gaskill is charged with obstruction of justice, wire fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice. In July, Gaskill was re-indicted on additional charges after it was discovered that he goaded Barriss to "try again" after the fatal shooting.

I thought it was pretty weird too. But apparently his prosecution was deferred anyway.
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TomNook posted...

Gatarix posted...

Apparently there were actually three co-defendants (Viner, Gaskill, and Barriss).

- Viner got into an argument with Gaskill
- Gaskill was like come at me bro, and gave a fake address

What would Gaskill even be charged with?

According to Wikipedia, obstruction, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit obstruction. After the first guy died, he asked Barriss if he wanted to try again and supplied him a fake IP address, so another random person might've been swatted too. He then also lied about that to the FBI.
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Full Throttle posted...

As for the officer who shot Finch, the local district attorney REFUSES to charge the officer because he thought Finch was "reaching" for a gun at the time of the door opening

both the most upsetting and least surprising part of this situation
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Johnbobb posted...

Full Throttle posted...

As for the officer who shot Finch, the local district attorney REFUSES to charge the officer because he thought Finch was "reaching" for a gun at the time of the door opening

both the most upsetting and least surprising part of this situation

While there's no excuse for it, this is where the sentence this kid got was frankly too light. The call in question stated that they had shot and killed their father, was holding his mother/brother hostage, and was about to set the house on fire. Police are already trigger happy enough, let alone giving them a reason to further be on edge.
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I think 15 months is pretty fair tbqh. Possibly even a bit heavy handed.

But I'd venture to apt.

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Someone died. It's like randomly firing a gun into a building. Someone could die, and it's because you were completely callous to the possibility, even if it wasn't your intention to kill someone.
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red sox 777 posted...

Someone died. It's like randomly firing a gun into a building. Someone could die, and it's because you were completely callous to the possibility, even if it wasn't your intention to kill someone.

In this scenario though, he asked someone else if they would randomly fire a gun. They did, and it resulted in a death.

He didn't actually do it.

The intent wasn't murder anyways.

That said, it was a huge misusage of the police, harmful, and resulted in a death. It seems callous to think the person who actually did it though isn't the main culprit.

Conspiracy to commit a crime is basically what it amounts to.

I can see arguments it is light, but I also tend to see the prosecutor offered no jail time, and it was a crime that usually went with probation for a first time offender of a young age with no record also.

I am not gonna say anyone arguing it should be more is wrong. I am just saying I see it as apt and maybe a tad heavy handed in my own opinion, though I was extremely for prosecuting to the fullest extent initially.

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maybe if your whole country wasn't armed to the fucking teeth people would stop getting shot lol

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Tom Bombadil posted...

I think that's a fair or even lenient sentence although it seems odd to me that the prosecution agreed to something lighter and the judge overruled it. Is that a thing normally?

The judge can almost always kill a plea deal and still take the guilty verdict, but generally they don't because admission of guilt is usually considered to be a first step to reformation. The fact that Viner had himself been such a victim would inform the Judge that he knew just how bad of a thing he did, and therefore admission of guilt was in full acknowledgement he understood the potential consequences to others when he did it. It's the difference between saying "I didn't know shooting my gun into the air could kill someone" to "My cousin got killed by a bullet shot into and I still shot my gun into the air." He knew someone could be killed by what he did and he's luck af hew wasn't tried for manslaughter or even 2nd degree murder.
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ChichiriMuyo posted...

The judge can almost always kill a plea deal and still take the guilty verdict, but generally they don't because admission of guilt is usually considered to be a first step to reformation. The fact that Viner had himself been such a victim would inform the Judge that he knew just how bad of a thing he did, and therefore admission of guilt was in full acknowledgement he understood the potential consequences to others when he did it. It's the difference between saying "I didn't know shooting my gun into the air could kill someone" to "My cousin got killed by a bullet shot into and I still shot my gun into the air." He knew someone could be killed by what he did and he's luck af hew wasn't tried for manslaughter or even 2nd degree murder.

Has anyone ever died before from a swatting? I would assume he was just trying to scare the person and maybe have his door kicked in. I don't think being shot was something he considered.

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Full Throttle posted...

Finch was shot IMMEDIATELY upon opening the door when a police officer shot him out of "surprise"

As for the officer who shot Finch, the local district attorney REFUSES to charge the officer because he thought Finch was "reaching" for a gun at the time of the door opening

what the fuck is wrong with these people

firefdr posted...

what the fuck is wrong with these people

Uh, details matter. The call reported a man holding people hostage at gunpoint and possibly having murdered someone I believe. They had reason to believe he was armed, dangerous, and volatile. The man opened the door and reached towards his belt. They erred on the side of their safety. Not an unreasonable action in the situation.

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Full Throttle posted...

Finch was shot IMMEDIATELY upon opening the door when a police officer shot him out of "surprise"

this dude needs jail time too, wtf. If you startle that easily you should probably not be a cop.

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The guy that swatted deserved the 20 years

This idiot deserves at least 5 years

The idiot cop that actually shot the guy deserves life in prison
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BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

The guy that swatted deserved the 20 years

This idiot deserves at least 5 years

The idiot cop that actually shot the guy deserves life in prison

Why does the cop deserve more than anybody else involved? The swatters are the ones who actively chose to put this guy's life in danger, knowing the risks.
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LordoftheMorons posted...

BlAcK TuRtLe posted...

The guy that swatted deserved the 20 years

This idiot deserves at least 5 years

The idiot cop that actually shot the guy deserves life in prison

Why does the cop deserve more than anybody else involved? The swatters are the ones who actively chose to put this guy's life in danger, knowing the risks.

the cop is the one who shot him?

don't necessarily agree with this line of logic but it's pretty obvious
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I mean, yeah, but if you were to hire an assassin I dont think anybody would argue you were any less culpable than the actual hitman, and the cop in this case has an actual legitimate job (albeit one that he is apparently very bad at)
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The cops were given the information of: Guy shot and killed somebody and was holding other people hostage. And then he opened the door before they actually got to it, which I assume is what made them jump.

Obviously, there should absolutely be some kind of punishment for the cop that shot him. But the swatter literally created the situation in the first place.
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LordoftheMorons posted...

I mean, yeah, but if you were to hire an assassin I dont think anybody would argue you were any less culpable than the actual hitman, and the cop in this case has an actual legitimate job (albeit one that he is apparently very bad at)

I just find it hilarious that they correctly felt the need to make an example of the swatter, yet the US justice system absolutely refuses to prosecute murderous cops. In most of the cases where excessive force is used, I can sympathise, but there was literally no danger to the cop in this situation
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You all talk really big when you've never been in a situation like that. But I'm sure you all have nerves of steel and would remain completely calm while dealing with someone who, according to all the information you have, is armed and dangerous
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MZero11 posted...

You all talk really big when you've never been in a situation like that. But I'm sure you all have nerves of steel and would remain completely calm while dealing with someone who, according to all the information you have, is armed and dangerous

yeah you're right get rid of the fuckin guns

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MZero11 posted...

You all talk really big when you've never been in a situation like that. But I'm sure you all have nerves of steel and would remain completely calm while dealing with someone who, according to all the information you have, is armed and dangerous

good reason I'm not a cop
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LordoftheMorons posted...

I mean, yeah, but if you were to hire an assassin I dont think anybody would argue you were any less culpable than the actual hitman, and the cop in this case has an actual legitimate job (albeit one that he is apparently very bad at)

Is there any state in which conspiracy to commit murder/associate to murder or whatever crime it'd fit into has a larger penalty than murder itself?

or federally or whatever it's too early to think about nuances in the justice system
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NFUN posted...

good reason I'm not a cop

Lol right - I'm not claiming I wouldn't be terrified, which is why I *would not be a cop*. Like I get pointing your gun at him and ordering him to freeze, then carefully cuffing him etc. but if you're that trigger happy you're not someone who should be armed.

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NFUN posted...

LordoftheMorons posted...

I mean, yeah, but if you were to hire an assassin I dont think anybody would argue you were any less culpable than the actual hitman, and the cop in this case has an actual legitimate job (albeit one that he is apparently very bad at)

Is there any state in which conspiracy to commit murder/associate to murder or whatever crime it'd fit into has a larger penalty than murder itself?

or federally or whatever it's too early to think about nuances in the justice system

IIRC hiring a hitman used to carry the death penalty in New Hampshire while regular 1st degree murder didn't. But NH hadn't executed anyone since the 1940s so it was sort of a dead letter.
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