Tyler Barriss, the California man charged in connection with a “swatting” call that led to a fatal police shooting in Wichita, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
Barriss pleaded guilty in November to 51 federal counts for various crimes including fake bomb threats and swatting calls made across the country, including Wichita. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 25 years. The charges not only involved the Wichita case, but a number of other hoax calls in California and in the District of Columbia.
During Friday’s sentencing hearing, Barriss said he accepted responsibility for his actions.
“I’m not very good at conveying feeling and emotions in spoken words… it may not sound as sincere as I want,” said Barriss. “If I would have never made the phone call, he never would have lost his life.”
28-year-old Andrew Finch was shot and killed by police who were called to his home on December 28, 2017 with a false 911 call. A relative of Andrew Finch was in the courtroom Friday morning, but declined to address the court.
The U.S. Attorney for Kansas, Stephen McAllister, told reporters after the sentencing that this is believed to be the longest sentence ever imposed in the nation for swatting or hoax calls. McAllister said he hopes it sends a strong message to put an end to the “juvenile and reckless practice” of swatting within the gaming community and any other context.
Two other men, Casey Viner of North College Hill, Ohio and Shane Gaskill of Wichita, are awaiting trial on charges related to the Wichita swatting incident. Prosecutors said the two men got into a dispute during an online game, and Viner asked Barriss to swat Gaskill. A false 911 call was then made that led Wichita police to a home at 1033 West McCormick, and that’s where Andrew Finch was shot and killed.
Sedgwick County district attorney Marc Bennett said in light of the federal sentence of 20 years, he will drop state charges against Barriss. Bennett said he worked with federal prosecutors in the case and determined that because of a Kansas Supreme Court ruling in a separate case, state charges would only result in a sentence of 22 to 24 months in addition to the federal sentence.
