March 18--Attorneys argued at a sentencing hearing Friday on how to best handle a Wisconsin man who lacks a significant criminal history but has what prosecutors say are troubling traits associated with people who commit school shootings.
After listening to testimony and argument, DuPage County Judge George Bakalis said he wanted to think about his sentence of Aden Khan, 23, of Madison, who was convicted in January of felony disorderly conduct for a social media post that spoke of gun violence and alarmed officials at Naperville's North Central College.
The judge also heard from Khan, who apologized for his actions.
"Now I do understand that what I did was wrong," he told the judge. "I'm never going to do anything like that again. I want to get my life together."
Bakalis said he would consider the evidence and issue his sentence March 25.
In 2013, Khan created a social media page called North Central Confessions frequented by students of the college. Khan posted on the site, "I bring a gun to school every day. Someday someone is going to p--- me off and end up in a bag."
Khan lived in Madison and grew up in California but had never been a North Central student, though he had struck up an online friendship with a woman who was a student there.
He argued at trial that the post was meant in jest, but jurors found him guilty of a felony that carries a three-year maximum sentence, but often results in a sentence of probation.
Assistant State's Attorney Ken Tatarelis asked for the three-year sentence after presenting evidence of other social media posts Khan made discussing school shootings. The prosecutor noted that Khan drew a school suspension from his California high school in 2010 after he posted a list of the 10 people he "most wanted to kill," which included family members and a teacher.
"This defendant still doesn't get it," Tatarelis told the judge.
Naperville police Detective Richard Wistocki testified that officers recovered a collection of knives and pellet guns from Khan's apartment. He said Khan's public posts discussed school shootings, which mirrored that of actions of actual school shooters who had often publicly discussed their plans before carrying them out.
But the judge questioned whether a prison sentence, even a maximum one that would likely keep Khan incarcerated less than two years, would address his issues.
Khan's attorney, Stephen Richards, asked the judge to sentence Khan to probation and treatment.
"This is a person of a very troubled background, but he's not a sociopath or a psychopath," Richards said.
Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter.
