RICHMOND, Va. — The final court proceeding for Rolman Balcarcel-Bavagas, a man who Richmond Police linked to an unsubstantiated July 4 mass shooting plot, wrapped up Thursday.
A prosecutor for the U.S. government told the judge that their investigation concluded there was insufficient evidence of a mass shooting plot.
U.S. District Court Judge Hannah Lauck sentenced Balcarcel-Bavagas to five and a half months in prison for illegally re-entering the United States. The Bureau of Prisons will determine if the time he’s already served in jail will count toward his prison sentencing.
Both the defense and prosecution asked the judge not to consider any information related to weapons that were found in Balcarcel-Bavagas’ housemate Julio Alvarado-Dubon’s possession or the tip of a mass shooting.
Defense attorney John Martin called it “extraneous information“ that is irrelevant to the “simple offense” of illegal re-entry.
“I don’t think we have enough evidence to bring any claim other than illegal re-entry,” said Kashan Pathan, an assistant attorney for the U.S. government.
The judge said there is “insufficient reliability” between the weapons found in Dubon’s room and Balcarcel-Bavagas.
She said she “will not” and “cannot” consider the weapons or tip in her sentencing.
On July 6, 2022, then Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith and his boss, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, held a press conference where they told the public the men were planning a mass shooting at Dogwood Dell on the Fourth of July.
They said a “hero citizen” provided a tip that prompted police to search the home and make the arrests. Balcarcel-Bavagas was the man mentioned in the tip, not Dubon. However, police still accused Dubon of being involved in a mass shooting plot.
“There is no telling how many lives this hero citizen saved,” Smith said at the press conference.
Last month, prosecutors handling the Balcarcel-Bavagas case said they lacked evidence to prove he was planning to shoot people at a big event on the Fourth of July or commit other acts of violence.
Alvarado-Dubon’s attorney argued Richmond Police conducted an illegal search of his home, and therefore, the evidence against him should be withheld.
When Balcarcel was asked in court if he had anything to say at the end of the proceeding, he said [in Spanish]:
“I don’t have anything else to say and want to thank you [the judge] for the job you have done.”
Legal analyst weighs in:
Weighing in after Thursday’s outcome, CBS 6 legal analyst Todd Stone said Judge Lauck was protecting the court’s perception of fairness by not considering any information related to the alleged plot during Balcarcel-Bavagas’ sentencing.
“When a judge gets into a sentencing on a situation like this, where there’s been so much talk in the media about the mass shooting, it’s important for the judge to make clear that, ‘Hey, I’m not considering any evidence of this talk about a mass shooting,'” Stone said. “And that’s basically because they just don’t have enough evidence to support a credible allegation of a mass shooting. If they did, the prosecutor certainly would have put that in their motion, they would have asked for more time to serve, you would have seen it pop up in different ways.”
Stone said sentencing would’ve been the appropriate time where any evidence of a plot, if it existed, would have surfaced. He said he was not surprised that none was revealed Thursday because of what was filed before the sentencing.
He added that the standards for truthful evidence are very high in a courtroom which is not the case for press conferences.
“There’s a big difference between that situation and statements at a press conference, which are not required to be under oath. They’re not required to support it with evidence. They’re just statements that are made to the press,” Stone said.
He explained checks and balances in a courtroom are clear, but checks and balances for statements made by political figures are left to voters and the press.
Stone said there’s a lesson to be learned from the developments of this case.
“Most everybody has an agenda of some sort, and so when you’re listening to statements made, think about what is the agenda of that person? What are they trying to accomplish? Are they required to make their statements under oath and support it with evidence,” he said.
Resident weighs in:
After learning about the lack of evidence, Paige Quilter, who heads the Carillon Civic Association right next to Dogwood Dell, was left feeling upset.
“What a huge waste of time and what a huge waste of human emotions,” Quilter said.
Quilter immediately started publicly asking questions and raising concerns about the alleged thwarted mass shooting plot after it was announced. For months, she said her community was left in the dark as police and city leaders refused to answer her questions related to public safety, what actually happened, and whether security would be heightened surrounding the Dogwood Dell area.
“Our neighborhood lived in fear for months not knowing what had really happened. So that is a big concern, but I think the bigger concern is trying to rebuild the trust with city government,” Quilter said. “I think next time, they need to take into consideration, without withholding information, how it affects the people it surrounds on a daily basis.”
She added she thought the claims by the city also harmed the public’s relationship with law enforcement.
Quilter said moving forward, she believes Mayor Stoney should take responsibility for his part in spreading information about the debunked plot.
“Where’s Mayor Stoney? Why did you get on national TV the day after the press conference and tell the world and all the networks about this if there was no evidence of it,” she said.
A spokesperson for Mayor Levar Stoney shared the following statement Thursday after CBS 6 asked if the mayor still stood by the initial claims of the July 6 news conference and continued efforts by former Chief Smith to defend his claims:
The mayor is grateful for the work of the police, prosecutors and court in this case.
He is also thankful for the fact that four dangerous weapons and 300 rounds of ammunition will not be used to commit acts of violence on city streets.
CBS 6 also reached out to the Richmond Police Department for comment and did not hear back.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
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