Robert E Crimo Jr.
Robert E. Crimo Jr., center, father of Robert Crimo III, talks with his attorneys as they wait for court to begin before Judge George D. Strickland at the Lake County, Ill., Courthouse Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, in Waukegan, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, Pool)
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Earlier this year, Robert Crimo, Jr., the father of alleged Highland Park killer Robert Crimo, III, was indicted on seven felony counts of reckless conduct. Prosecutors alleged that the father should have known that his son was a danger and had allegedly threatened violence when he helped the then-19-year-old purchase firearms.

The charges against the father were based on the fact that Crimo, Jr. had sponsored his son’s Illinois FOID card application in 2019. The son then legally purchased his firearms, passing all required background checks. The shooting took place during a July 4th parade in Highland Park, Illinois in 2022.

As Lake County, Illinois, State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said at the time of the indictment . . .

Parents who help their kids get weapons of war are morally and legally responsible when those kids hurt others with those weapons. 

Crimo’s trial on the reckless conduct charged was scheduled to start today. But in a last-minute deal, he pleaded guilty to seven reduced misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct.

As part of the deal reached with prosecutors, he will be on probation for two years, serve 60 days in jail, and complete 100 hours of community service. He is expected to report to jail to begin serving his sentence on November 15. 

The charges were, to say the least, novel. Blaming a father for an adult child’s conduct  would have been a challenge to prove in court. The defense had elected a bench trial with the expectation that given the pre-trial publicity surrounding the shooting, Crimo, Jr. couldn’t have gotten a fair jury trial in northern Illinois.

The difficulty in proving allegations of responsibility on the part of a parent likely prompted prosecutors to offer a plea deal to reduced misdemeanor charges. Interestingly . . .

As part of his plea deal, Crimo Jr. has agreed to testify if called at his son’s criminal trial, prosecutors said. The date for that trial has not been set.

 

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38 COMMENTS

  1. Robert E. Crimo Jr. dropped some coin on legal fees for sure, not exactly sure how “justice” was served here…

  2. The kid is 19, a legal adult responsible for his own actions. If he lives at home with the parents should the parents have seen some writing on the walls? absolutely. But seriously how does one do jail time for the actions of another legal adult???

    • There’s this thing called “aiding and abetting”. Likewise, if Mom had fed the kid a meal and allowed him to sleep in her house, after the shootings, she could be charged with harboring a fugitive.

      It’s not an alien concept that you can sometimes be held responsible for another person’s actions.

    • apparently because the kid would have been prohibited but for dad vouching for him.
      He took affirmative action, rather than just not doing something

  3. Mmmmm. I’m rather ambivalent on this one. Dad was stupid, no doubt. Criminally stupid? I ain’t so sure of that. When your kid reaches the age of majority, you are no longer responsible for him/her. Buuuut – Dad actually helped an imbalanced kid to get his weapons. Criminal? I’d have to know some more details to make up my mind, but I do kinda lean toward criminal.

    If the kid got his weapons completely without family intervention, then I would have to side with Dad, despite the fact that Dad is stupid.

    • I was not aware that you had to be sponsored by someone for the FOID card in Illinois.

      If you sponsored anyone in that situation that you did not feel right about you should not sponsor them.

      That tells me that there is something wrong with the NICS system if they still need a personal reference.

    • And abusive “plea bargaining”/extortion. Fed Dept of “Justice” being the main offender in this scam.

  4. “Seven Felony counts” went down to “seven reduced misdemeanor Counts”, Pfft. If the state was serious they wound’t have offered a plea deal. it was a waste of time.

  5. My concern here is just how far do we go (legally) down the chain of events and objects that a criminal uses in an attack?

    If the criminal announces his/her intention to attack people and the criminal’s relative/friend provides a car which the criminal later then uses to carryout his/her attack, is the relative/friend culpable?

    Unless a criminal tells their relative/friend that he/she is heading out immediately to attack someone, I am having a hard time agreeing that anything which the relative/friend contributes is illegal aiding/abetting.

  6. EFF Criminal Er Crimo Sr. His evil deranged son deserves death but won’t get it. Aiding & abetting indeed. Anyone who helped this pansy azzed lunatic gets no sympathy from this ILLannoy resident😧

  7. FYI:
    Nashville shooting update
    https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/nashville-shooters-manifesto

    Audrey Hale: “Can’t believe I’m doing this, but I’m ready…I hope my victims aren’t.”
    “I hope I have a high death count.”
    “Kill those kids!!!”
    “going to fancy private schools with those fancy khakis + sports backpacks w/ their daddies mustangs + convertibles.”
    “Wanna kill all you little crackers!!! Bunch of little f-a-g-g-o-t-s w/ your white privileges”

    Keep in mind the Puppet NEVER visited this area after the tragic shooting, unlike other, more politically convenient, shootings.

    Audrey’s main motivation seems to stem from antiwhitism which is being pushed 24/7 by the Regime. Would the Puppet & Co. ignore this tragedy if the shooter was a racist Trump supporter? Why the different standard?

    Has anyone noticed the exact same “colonizer” and “oppressor” language being directed toward Jews in Israel and white people in Western countries? Are the normies paying attention yet?

    P.S. Was her horrible handwriting part of her trying to be a guy?

      • She literally wrote down that she would first check to see if security was present. A police and security presence can act as a deterrent.

        • a locked door that was impenetrable would have worked just as well…and is a hell of a lot cheaper!….

        • @ frank speak – there’s no such thing as an impenetrable door. Most doors are easy to get through, if you understand how a door works, and are willing to work at it. Coat hanger, credit card, bump key, lock picks, etc ad nauseum. If someone was dumb enough to put the hinges of the outside, bingo – any solid bit of metal that you can get under the pins is your key.

          Some doors are hard to get through, but they cost a lot more than consumer grade trash available at every lumber store in the country.

  8. And the dumb law Illinois passed prohibiting scary guns in response to this knucklehead still allows FOID cards for under 21 with parental authorization

    hmmmm

    • Lobotomies, unlike meds, are a nice permanent fix and eliminate the need for expensive incarceration. They were commonplace before mid-sixties, should be brought back as a standard fix. Makes the dangerous as meek as a lamb although they are still crazy.

  9. I was a cop for 23 years. Seen plenty of stupid parents. Kids raised by the TV, parents with easily unlocked liquor cabinets. Saw kids die on the highway because parents thought they could drive after a lame ass driving course at school, they did not bother to train the kids to drive. And then put the kid in a 5.0 Mustang. Some kids are capable of handling firearms. Many are not. From what I have seen the kid was mean and stupid possibly the most lethal combination in a human being.

  10. If we just plead not guilty, the entire system collapses. So sick of weak men! I demand a trial in traffic cases….

    • I was told after being arrested and taken to jail that I did not get a public defender because driving without a DL is not an arrestable offense. However I was also told by the deputy police officer that I really didnt even have to show up for court because it’s only preliminary trial.
      ????
      Entrapment or stupidity?
      Some say stupidity. I dont think so.

  11. And yet, you never, ever hear about anyone in Cook County going after mommies when their gang banging kiddo shoots up their neighborhood or worse. Its nice to see just how fair and balanced justice is.

  12. No different than signing a loan for another adult. You are assuming responsibility for that adult if things go wrong.

    • Wow, you can’t possibly be serious? My grandma bought me a 28 gadget shotgun when I was 6 so I could shoot with her. I’m now 42, if I decide to shoot someone,, should she be charged?

  13. I feel that to be a legal adult, the person should be living away from their parents, be between 18 and 21(?), and should have to submit a letter to the court requesting age of majority. This should be true to vote, get a driver’s license, a credit card, etc.
    There are many teens that are responsible enough to do these things and many 20 somethings that aren’t. Putting in a sliding scale would help them grow up, some.
    The courts don’t give out chances to a lot of kids(like join the military, come back when you finish boot camp, and we will write this off), so kids can be felons for things they thought was normal(like street racing, making babies, etc).
    My grandparents – one side, drove a truck to Ca from Ok, he was 17, she was 13 – that was 1917. The other side, maternal came from Ireland on the run from the Brits, she was 16 and had to enter through Canada, the other one got put in the Navy before he was 15 because of a fight with his stepfather. They all could load a wagon, care for a team or horses or mules. They started life early.
    Today, upper middle class kids are molly coddled, they can’t make change from a $20 sale(when most Mexican kids can, and they know how to convert the rate from dollars to pesos and check it every day). They can not change a flat tire, jump start a car or even add coolant to that car. If something happens to them, they come running home for help. They don’t even know how to ask for help. They need the marriage and family classes, safety classes, cooking and shop classes that most high schools have phased out.

  14. I think this was a good outcome for all. Obviously Crimo Jr. made a mistake in sponsoring his son’s FOID card. On the other hand, if he hadn’t sponsored his son, Crimo III could have gotten his FOID card and bought the guns after he turned 21, if he passed the background checks. He was 21 or 22 when he shot all those people.

    The charges and their resolution were both political. Crimo Jr. stated that he is a community member and did not want to cause the community to re-live the event again, which his trial would do. I think he was looking at a three year sentence, but got off with 60 days in jail, plus community service and giving up all his guns, FOID card and concealed carry license.

  15. The state lost their argument when they said “weapons of war.” The prosecuting attorney said, “Parents who help their kids get weapons of war are morally and legally responsible when those kids hurt others with those weapons.”

    Okay, then considering that these were not “weapons of war,” I guess that means the father is not legally responsible.

    Also, 19-year-olds are not “kids.” They may be somebody’s son, just like my grandfather was someone’s son, but they are not “kids.”

    Finally, this just shows the stupidity of the unconstitutional Illinois requirement to get someone to “sponsor” you for an FOID card, if by sponsoring someone, it makes you legally liable for any crimes the person commits anytime in the future for the rest of their life!
    New Jersey also makes applicants — of any age! — get three references before we’re allowed to get the FPID (“firearms purchaser identification”) card, but I don’t think NJ allows family members to be references.

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