Robert Crimo Jr., the father of the man accused of carrying out the 2022 Highland Park mass shooting, pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanor counts on Monday, CNN reported.
Crimo Jr. initially faced three years in prison for seven felony charges of reckless conduct because prosecutors said he was “criminally reckless” for signing his son’s Illinois Firearms Owners Identification card in 2019, allowing Robert Crimo III to legally purchase guns before his 21st birthday, according to CNN. Crimo III allegedly used the identification card in 2019 to purchase five guns following a wellness check that officers conducted after a family member claimed he had threatened to kill everyone. (RELATED: Police Reports Show Alleged Highland Park Shooter’s Mom Assaulted Husband With Shoe And Screwdriver)
“Parents and guardians are in the best position to decide whether their teenager should have a weapon. They are the first line of defense. In this case, that system failed when Robert Crimo Jr. sponsored his son,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart told CNN. “He knew what he knew, and he signed the form anyway.”
Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III, 21, who is charged with seven counts first-degree murder, appears via video at his bond hearing at Lake County Circuit Court in Waukegan, Illinois on July 6, 2022. – Crimo is charged with seven counts first-degree murder, arrested for a mass shooting at a July 4 parade in an affluent Chicago suburb, has confessed and admitted he considered a second attack while on the run, officials said July 6, 2022. (Photo by Antonio Perez / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ANTONIO PEREZ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Crimo III, who was 21 at the time, allegedly used a high-powered rifle on July 4, 2022, to fire at least 70 rounds into a crowd watching a parade in Chicago, killing seven and wounding dozens more, according to CNN. Prosecutors argued that Crimo Jr. should be held partially responsible because he helped his son acquire a firearm identification card when he was too young, the Chicago Sun Times reported.
Crimo III showed warning signs years in advance of the alleged mass shooting, and police had temporarily removed his collection of knives after he attempted to commit suicide with a machete in April 2019, according to CNN. He had also painted an image of a shooter on the side of his mother’s home at some point before he allegedly committed the shooting and had supposedly planned the shooting for weeks in advance.
Crimo Jr. faces a similar situation to the parents of Ethan Crumbley, the Michigan mass shooter who pleaded guilty to killing four of his classmates and wounding seven others in 2021 at Oxford High School. Crumbley’s parents were charged in 2021 with four counts of involuntary manslaughter for allegedly buying a semi-automatic pistol for their teenage son.
Crimo Jr. will receive a maximum of 60 days in prison, will be on probation for 24 months, will surrender all of his weapons and will perform 100 hours of community service as part of his plea deal, according to the Times. Crimo Jr. also agreed to testify at his son’s trial, although prosecutors have not set a date for the trial, CNN reported.
Crimo III has pleaded not guilty to 117 criminal charges that include 24 counts of first degree murder, according to CNN.
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