FILE – Fred Guttenberg, father of Jaime Guttenberg, holds a picture of his daughter, Monday, March 5, 2018, as he listens to questions from the media in front of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla. whose daughter died in the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. (Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald via AP, File)
The California man who sent a grieving Florida father hundreds of hateful messages mocking the shooting death of his teenage daughter is headed for prison.
James Catalano, 62, was sentenced to 12 months in prison on Friday for cyberstalking Fred Guttenberg, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. Guttenberg’s daughter, Jamie Guttenberg, was 14 years old when she was killed in the Parkland school shooting in February 2018.
In the wake of his daughter’s death, Guttenberg became an outspoken advocate against gun violence. That apparently bothered Catalano, who repeatedly sent messages to Guttenberg accusing him of abusing his daughter and saying that she had been sexually assaulted before she was killed.
“The defendant’s heinous messages accused the victim of molesting his daughter and graphically described the manner of her death and her pain and suffering as she died,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum. “The defendant admitted to law enforcement that he sent these messages to the victim because he believed the victim was using his daughter’s death to further his own political agenda.”
Catalano pleaded guilty in March to one count of cyberstalking, punishable under federal law by up to five years in prison.
In a sentencing memo, prosecutors noted that Catalano sent messages to Guttenberg’s associates.
“Aside from his messages to the victim here, the defendant’s conduct spanned far beyond victim F.G.,” the sentencing memo said. “Indeed, the defendant targeted several of the victim’s associates in the same manner he targeted F.G. For example, the defendant messaged known advocates against gun violence, stating, in one instance: ‘when that c— [T.S.] says women will die, does that mean [T.S.] will die? I hope so, b—-.”
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The DOJ also outlined Catalano’s apparent history of sending threatening messages to people other than Guttenberg when they did something he didn’t like.
“YOU bit off more than you can chew, f—–,” he wrote, using a slur for gay people, according to the court filing. “Once escrow closes, watch what happens next. SHUT your f—— f—– mouth.”
The sentence from U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola, a Barack Obama appointee, is below what both prosecutors and defense attorneys recommended. Lawyers for the Justice Department recommended a 20-month sentence, while Catalano’s lawyer said that he should be subject to a guideline sentence of 18 to 24 months.
Scola gave Catalano until Nov. 29 to surrender to the U.S. Marshals Service. He will serve three years of probation following his prison sentence.
Conditions of Catalano’s supervised release include anger control and domestic violence treatment, mental health treatment, and restrictions on how he can use his computer — specifically, he is prohibited from accessing any “material” relating to the offense activity. He is also barred from contacting Guttenberg.
A total of 14 students and three staff members were killed in the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
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