It's been a while since I last wrote about Tres Genco—eight months, actually. Previous thread here:
incels.is
Tres Genco, now 23, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 24th, 2023, at the Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse in Cincinnati. On one count of an attempted hate crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 249(a)(2), Genco faces a statutory minimum of a fine and a statutory maximum of life in prison.
Scheduling Order for Genco's Sentencing
The factual background of the case is actually fairly embarrassing for Genco. Unlike what Redditors have hypothesized, Genco was not caught as a result of online "sleuthing". In March 2020, 20-year-old Genco engaged in a heated argument with his mother, who he lived with. The argument was heated enough for his own mother to call the police on him. After law enforcement arrived, Genco admitted that he possessed an AR-15, equipped with a bump stock, in his car. After asking if Genco had any more firearms, the police received his consent to search his bedroom for a handgun. The police not only found the handgun, a 9mm with no markings or serial number, but also a handwritten note that apparently detailed a plan to commit a mass shooting. This allowed the police to return to Genco's home, this time with a search warrant, to check his devices.
For the contents of the handwritten note, Genco was charged at the state level for making terroristic threats, a 3rd-degree felony in Ohio, and was sentenced to 17 months in jail after entering an Alford plea. He was released early on parole in April 2021. In July 2021, some 16 months after his initial arrest, federal prosecutors secured an indictment charging him with one count of an attempted hate crime, for the plot to commit a mass shooting at a university in Ohio; and one count of unlawful possession of a machinegun, for the illegally modified 9mm handgun. Notably, Genco was not charged for the bump stock on his AR-15. This was likely due to litigation at the Sixth Circuit, whose appellate jurisdiction covers all federal district courts in Ohio, that called into question the constitutionality of the ATF's bump stock rule. But I digress.
Over the next year, Genco's public defenders filed multiple pretrial motions attacking the Government's case. While attempts to dismiss the charges were unsuccessful, Judge Susan J. Dlott found that the Highland County Sheriff's Office violated Genco's Fourth Amendment rights during their initial, warrantless search of his bedroom. For this violation, the Court suppressed some of the evidence against Genco under the exclusionary rule—that is, the Government would not be allowed to use that particular evidence at trial.
Finally, in September 2022, Genco accepted a plea bargain where he would plead guilty to the attempted hate crime, and the Government would dismiss the gun charge. The plea agreement itself remains sealed, so it is not yet public knowledge how both parties will approach sentencing. He entered a guilty plea the following month.
Sentencing memorandums, if filed, are due next month. Given § 249's extremely broad sentencing range, it will be interesting to see how the case plays out.
BREAKING: Ohio incel who allegedly planned to go ER reaches plea agreement with U.S. Department of Justice
A status conference was held yesterday in United States v. Genco, and a recent court filing indicates that the parties have reached a plea agreement, though the exact terms of the agreement have not yet been finalized or disclosed. In July 2021, Tres Genco (pictured above) was indicted in...
incels.is
Tres Genco, now 23, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 24th, 2023, at the Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse in Cincinnati. On one count of an attempted hate crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 249(a)(2), Genco faces a statutory minimum of a fine and a statutory maximum of life in prison.
Scheduling Order for Genco's Sentencing
The factual background of the case is actually fairly embarrassing for Genco. Unlike what Redditors have hypothesized, Genco was not caught as a result of online "sleuthing". In March 2020, 20-year-old Genco engaged in a heated argument with his mother, who he lived with. The argument was heated enough for his own mother to call the police on him. After law enforcement arrived, Genco admitted that he possessed an AR-15, equipped with a bump stock, in his car. After asking if Genco had any more firearms, the police received his consent to search his bedroom for a handgun. The police not only found the handgun, a 9mm with no markings or serial number, but also a handwritten note that apparently detailed a plan to commit a mass shooting. This allowed the police to return to Genco's home, this time with a search warrant, to check his devices.
For the contents of the handwritten note, Genco was charged at the state level for making terroristic threats, a 3rd-degree felony in Ohio, and was sentenced to 17 months in jail after entering an Alford plea. He was released early on parole in April 2021. In July 2021, some 16 months after his initial arrest, federal prosecutors secured an indictment charging him with one count of an attempted hate crime, for the plot to commit a mass shooting at a university in Ohio; and one count of unlawful possession of a machinegun, for the illegally modified 9mm handgun. Notably, Genco was not charged for the bump stock on his AR-15. This was likely due to litigation at the Sixth Circuit, whose appellate jurisdiction covers all federal district courts in Ohio, that called into question the constitutionality of the ATF's bump stock rule. But I digress.
Over the next year, Genco's public defenders filed multiple pretrial motions attacking the Government's case. While attempts to dismiss the charges were unsuccessful, Judge Susan J. Dlott found that the Highland County Sheriff's Office violated Genco's Fourth Amendment rights during their initial, warrantless search of his bedroom. For this violation, the Court suppressed some of the evidence against Genco under the exclusionary rule—that is, the Government would not be allowed to use that particular evidence at trial.
Finally, in September 2022, Genco accepted a plea bargain where he would plead guilty to the attempted hate crime, and the Government would dismiss the gun charge. The plea agreement itself remains sealed, so it is not yet public knowledge how both parties will approach sentencing. He entered a guilty plea the following month.
Sentencing memorandums, if filed, are due next month. Given § 249's extremely broad sentencing range, it will be interesting to see how the case plays out.
