Who is Robert Crimo Jr?: Highland Park shooter’s father pleads guilty for helping his son obtain gun license
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: The father of the accused Highland Park shooter, Robert "Bobby" Crimo III, 22, has pleaded guilty to reckless conduct in a plea deal for helping his son get a gun license in 2019 when he was too young to apply on his own.
Robert Crimo Jr, the owner of a deli, will serve 60 days in jail and two years probation for signing his son’s Firearm Owner’s Identification card application.
Robert Crimo Jr will serve 60 days in jail
Besides 60 days in jail, Robert Crimo Jr will serve two years of probation as part of the deal.
He also has to surrender his Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card and any firearms or ammo and must agree to not sponsor any minors for FOID in the future, NBC News reported.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart announced the plea deal on Monday, saying that Crimo Jr’s decision in 2019 “enabled” the deadly Fourth of July parade shooting and put “the lives of hundreds in jeopardy.”
Rinehart claims Crimo Jr was aware of his son’s challenges and issues
Authorities have previously reported that Crimo Jr was reportedly aware of his son’s challenges and issues, which were evident to his parents, his school, and the local police department.
Police had received reports of Crimo III threatening his family to commit suicide, and expressing a desire to commit a mass shooting in 2014 or 2015.
“His decision in 2019 to cavalierly cast aside his concerns about his son and ignore his specific knowledge before sponsoring his son’s FOID application endangered lives,” Rinehart said.
Crimo Jr was seven charged with counts of reckless conduct
Crimo Jr was charged earlier this year with seven counts of reckless conduct - one for each person his son fatally shot in the Highland Park massacre.
Each count carries a maximum three-year prison term. Under the plea deal, Crimo Jr must also perform 100 hours of community service.
In the deal, however, the charges were downgraded from felony counts. He is set to report to jail on November 15 as per Daily Mail.
Rinehart said that Crimo Jr’s guilty plea was a warning to parents, who are rarely prosecuted when their children commit mass violence with firearms.
“There have been very few parents who have been held responsible for their children — that era has come to an end,” Rinehart said.
Son faces 117 criminal charges
Meanwhile, Crimo III’s trial date is expected to be set during a hearing sometime in December.
He has pleaded not guilty to 117 criminal charges, including 21 first-degree murder counts, 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery.
He is accused of opening fire on a crowd of people who were watching the Fourth of July fireworks show in Highland Park, a wealthy suburb of Chicago.
The motive for the shooting remains unclear. Crimo Jr said last year after the massacre that he was "shocked."
"I had no — not an inkling, warning — that this was going to happen," he said.
However, prosecutors argued that the boy’s father ignored glaring signs that his son was capable of violence.