Posted on 08/09/2012 8:01:09 AM PDT by Rio
Local news story does not add much:
A Grants Pass man entered guilty pleas to two federal charges that stem from an October incident at Grants Pass High School.
Raphael Amoroso was in federal court Wednesday, where he entered guilty pleas to having a gun on school grounds and being an unlawful marijuana user in possession of a gun.
He will be sentenced at 10 a.m. Oct. 29.
Amoroso has been in jail since October and his attorneys sought his release.
Federal prosecutors argued that Amoroso shouldn’t be released because he was a danger to society. They point to psychological testing done that suggests the man needs treatment and counseling.
Amoroso’s attorneys agreed with the charges. They told a judge the man would get treatment once he was out.
Federal Judge Owen Panner decided to release Amoroso. The man had been in jail for more than 300 days and had a record of good behavior in jail.
The judge believes that Amoroso learned his lesson and wouldn’t do anything violent.
“I wish you the best of luck,” Panner said.
Amoroso will return in October, where he will be sentenced. He faces up to five years for the gun on school property charge and up to 10 years on the possession charge. Both charges carry fines up to $250,000.
The 26-year-old was arrested after approaching a police officer outside Grants Pass High School hours after a football game. A search of his car revealed marijuana, a loaded pistol, rifle ammunition and a novel about a rogue federal agent who opens fire on a football game.
Source: www.ktvl.com
Piecing it together. Story below from Huffington Post 10/27/2011. Could not find on the copyright list, so here goes:
GRANTS PASS, Ore. — A Oregon man facing charges that he had a loaded pistol at a high school after a football game had written a note on a desk when he was in high school saying he wanted to kill as many teachers and students as he could, according to federal court documents filed Thursday.
The 1999 note was cited in documents filed in U.S. District Court by prosecutors who want to keep Raphael Enrique Amoroso, 26, of Grants Pass, behind bars while he awaits trial on charges of having a gun on school grounds and being a drug user in possession of a firearm.
“The defendant’s father stated that he believed his son needed mental help and counseling, and that he had concerns about the paraphernalia that he was collecting and reading,” prosecutors wrote. “Defendant has a history of threatening behavior and this most recent case is an escalation and is most concerning for public safety.”
Court documents said Grants Pass police provided a report about contacting Amoroso in January 1999 after he admitted writing a note on a classroom desk that read, “I want to take a gun to school and blow away the faculty. When I am done with that, I’ll systematically kill every student I can.”
The detention hearing scheduled for Thursday was postponed until Monday at the request of Amoroso’s lawyer. Federal public defender Tonia Moro wrote in a motion that prosecutors did not provide her with evidence gathered in the case until the day of the hearing, and they amended the criminal complaint just hours before the hearing was to start.
A self-employed landscaper, Amoroso was arrested on drunken driving charges after leaving a Grants Pass High School parking lot shortly before midnight Oct. 7. Police said he admitted smoking marijuana, and a breath test showed he was also drunk. In his car, police found marijuana, a loaded .45-caliber pistol, 200 rounds of rifle ammunition, binoculars, a camouflage jacket, and the novel “Enemies Foreign and Domestic,” which tells a story about a sniper attack at a professional football game staged to bring about a ban on semiautomatic rifles.
A week later, police searched the house where Amoroso lives with his mother, finding a collection of vintage military rifles, thousands of rounds of ammunition, two military sniper manuals, and a variety of books that included “Mein Kampf” by Adolf Hitler and “OK BOMB!- Conspiracy and Cover-up” by Jim Kerith, according to an affidavit filed with the new criminal complaint.
Authorities also found a printout from a website about picking what kind of terrorist to be, a note about combining chemicals to produce an explosive, armor-piercing bullet tips, a bulletproof vest, a helmet, and an inch-thick piece of steel with an armor-piercing bullet stuck in it.
A court document cited an interview with Amoroso’s father, who told authorities about his son being arrested in 2000 for shooting a pellet gun at a passing jet boat loaded with tourists on the Rogue River when he was 15, and being ordered by a judge to undergo counseling.
bookmarked
October 28, 2012
Chris Conrad
By Chris Conrad
Mail Tribune
Saying that he presents a "grave danger" to society and previously had threatened to kill teachers and students, federal prosecutors are seeking a stiff sentence for a Grants Pass man who pleaded guilty in August to carrying a gun on school grounds.
The government will make its case Monday in U.S. District Court in Medford that Raphael Amoroso, 27, should spend the next five years in federal prison.
Amoroso was arrested on Oct. 7, 2011, in the Grants Pass High School parking lot on the night of a football game between Grants Pass and North Medford High School.
A Grants Pass Department of Public Safety officer pulled over Amoroso's car as it left the parking lot that evening.
According to a sentencing memo released by federal prosecutors, Amoroso appeared to be intoxicated, with the odor of alcohol and marijuana coming from his car.
The officer found a baggie of marijuana in the car, a camouflage jacket, a green backpack with binoculars inside and a marijuana pipe.
In addition, Amoroso indicated he had a loaded firearm in the car, along with a book about "a football stadium massacre by a deranged sniper and the resulting chaos from the stampede as people fled in fear," the memo said.
A further search of the car turned up 200 rounds of ammunition and a loaded .45 caliber handgun. A book called "The Outlaw Bible" also was discovered. The book was marked with passages highlighting the process to conceal handguns to avoid law enforcement searches.
A document was found on Amoroso titled "What Kind of Terrorist Are You?" The document was a printout from a website that discussed the "War on Terrorism" and how it affects peoples' lives around the world.
The document ends by stating, "We are all terrorists now ... . It is just a matter of picking your affiliation. Home Grown? Islamic? Single Issue? Or Al Quaida (sic)?"
The next day, officers searched Amoroso's home and found eight additional firearms, 2,200 rounds of ammunition, a bulletproof vest, a ballistic helmet and a camouflage suit.
Police also found a handwritten note describing how to produce explosives from chemical compounds.
This was enough for federal prosecutors to argue that Amoroso needs to spend five years in prison.
The government says that Amoroso's past behavior, coupled with the latest charges, paints a picture of someone who may someday act out violently toward society.
"(Amoroso's) history and characteristics show he has a disturbing mental perspective and has the ability to amass weapons, explosives and large amounts of ammunition," the memo said.
Prosecutors said Amoroso in 1999 wrote on a classroom desk, "I want to take a gun to school and blow away the faculty. When I am done with that, I'll systematically kill every student I can."
In August 2000, Amoroso was convicted of shooting at a jetboat with a pellet gun, striking a passenger in the face.
Prosecutors go on to argue that Amoroso's antisocial behavior is escalating and that he should serve a "lengthy sentence" to "protect the public."
Prosecutors provided copies of Amoroso's handwritten jailhouse letters as part of the sentencing recommendation.
Amoroso doesn't make any overt threatening statements in the letters but does curse the prosecutors seeking to imprison him. He also lashes out at his own attorneys, saying "they haven't done a thing for me."
Prosecutors say the letters show Amoroso has a high level of intelligence and that he is fully aware of his actions without accepting any blame.
U.S. District Judge Owen Panner agreed to release Amoroso from jail in August. Panner said he did not believe Amoroso was an immediate threat, The Associated Press reported.
Reach reporter Chris Conrad at 541-776-4471 or cconrad@mailtribune.com.
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