The father of the Illinois 4th July parade mass shooting suspect has pleaded guilty to misdemeanors related to his son’s gun license.
Robert Crimo Jr. entered his plea on Monday morning as part of a deal with prosecutors.
He pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct. As part of his plea deal, he will be sentenced to 60 days in jail and 2 years probation. In addition, he’ll be required to complete 100 hours of community service, surrender his Firearm Owners’ Identification Card, and give up any current weapons he owns, according to CBS News.
His son, Robert Crimo III, allegedly killed seven people at a 2022 4th July shooting in Highland Park, a suburban city north of Chicago.
Prosecutors argue that the elder Crimo ignored warning signs about his son’s potential danger to the public. They claim he cosigned for his son to acquire a gun license in 2019, despite the younger Crimo allegedly making threats to “kill everyone” just months prior.
When police searched his house after the initial threat, they found 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword, but did not have sufficient cause to arrest him at the time.
The elder Crimo had maintained his innocence prior to the guilty plea.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart stated that had the case gone to trial, they would have presented evidence showing that the elder Crimo knew his son was experiencing “violent ideations” before cosigning for his son’s gun license.
The prosecution also planned to argue that the younger Crimo had sent suicidal text messages and that the elder Crimo was aware of these messages before approving the license.
The elder Crimo’s attorney, George Gomez, explained that he accepted the plea deal to avoid potentially affecting his son’s upcoming murder trial.
“As you all know, this matter was going to be tried first before his son’s case was going to be tried. This would mean that the potential key evidence would be disclosed to the public, jeopardizing his son’s fair right to trial. As a father, Mr. Crimo wanted to ensure that his son received a fair trial,” Mr. Gomez said.
The elder Crimo will be transferred to the Lake County Jail on November 15th.
A hearing in September will determine the scheduling of his son’s murder trial.
