The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Ohio gamer gets 15 months in prison in ‘swatting’ case
WICHITA, KAN. >> An Ohio gamer upset about a $1.50 bet while playing Call of Duty: WWII online was sentenced Friday to 15 months in prison for recruiting a prankster to make a bogus emergency call that resulted in the fatal shooting of a Kansas man by police.
Casey Viner, 19, of North College Hill, Ohio, also is restricted from gaming activity for two years while he is on supervised release after serving his prison term, U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren said in announcing the sentence.
Viner repeatedly gulped and appeared crestfallen as the judge announced his sentencing decision. He glanced into the courtroom gallery where his parents were seated. His tearful mother got up and left the courtroom. His father, an Ohio law enforcement officer, put his head into his hands.
Viner pleaded guilty in April to felony charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice in the hope that he would not be sentenced to prison. Viner admitted trying to hide his involvement in the 2017 incident when he realized the antic had gotten someone killed.
In a brief courtroom statement, Viner told the judge he is “awfully sorry” for what happened: “I never intended for anything to happen. I think of it every day.”
Prosecutors and defense lawyers in their plea agreement had recommended a sentence of two years on 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 Melgren said a prison sentence was required to reflect the seriousness of the offense and give the public a sense the criminal justice system is working. It was foreseeable that something bad could happen by calling an armed police force to respond to what police believed was an escalating situation of violence, he said.
“We impose sentences not only for what people intend, but what happened,” Melgren said.
The death of 28-yearold Andrew Finch in Wichita, Kansas, drew national attention to “swatting,” a form of retaliation in which someone reports a false emergency to get authorities, particularly a SWAT team, to descend on an address.