The father of a Washington state high school student who fatally shot four of his classmates before turning the gun on himself has been sentenced to two years in federal prison.
Raymond Lee Fryberg was found guilty in September of illegally owning firearms. Three years of supervised release will follow his prison sentence.
“Guns in the wrong hands are just plain wrong and will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes said in a statement. “The Department of Justice has an ongoing commitment to prosecuting firearms crimes. The goal is to enforce our gun laws against those who pose a threat to public safety. Here the illegal possession of a firearm played a devastating role in a community tragedy.”
Fryberg's attorney had said his client wasn't aware he couldn't own the guns that authorities found in his home. In October 2014, his 15-year-old son, Jaylen, took his Beretta handgun to Marysville-Pilchuck High School and shot five of his classmates, including a former girlfriend and two of his cousins. Four of the teens died. Jaylen also killed himself.
At the time, authorities said the gun had been legally purchased. Investigators later determined that Fryberg had been prohibited by a Tulalip Tribal Court in 2002 from owning guns. The permanent order of protection had been obtained by a former girlfriend who said Fryberg had threatened and assaulted her, the FBI said.
In July, Fryberg's attorney told the Associated Press that the firearms charges were "ridiculous." The state of Washington had approved Fryberg for a concealed weapons permit in 2013 after he passed a background check, and Fryberg had never been informed that he wasn't allowed to own guns, his attorney said.
Prosecutors, however, said Fryberg was aware of the protective order — he had pleaded no contest to an alleged violation of its requirements in 2012, the Seattle Times reported.