Koberna no longer faces felony charge
William Koberna and his attorney Paul Cristallo are addressed by Judge Barbara Oswick during a hearing Friday morning in the Kent Municipal Court. Koberna is no longer facing felony charges of inducing panic after making threats on Twitter to “shoot up” Kent State University.. Photo by Matt Hafley.
William Koberna, the Kent State sophomore who allegedly threatened to “shoot up” the university via Twitter, is no longer facing felony charges after a hearing Friday morning.
Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci announced that grand jurors issued a “no bill,” or no indictment, on a charge of inducing panic, a fifth-degree felony, after hearing evidence in the case on Thursday.
Koberna received a lesser charge of telecommunications harassment, a first-degree misdemeanor.
During the hearing, Judge Barbara Oswick released Koberna from GPS tracking. Koberna is still forbidden to be on the Kent State University campus or have contact with President Lester Lefton.
Koberna’s attorney, Paul Cristallo, said he thought GPS tracking would harm Koberna’s future and cited Koberna’s status as a dean’s list student and the fact that Koberna did not own a gun.
“We’re very pleased about this,” Cristallo said. “It’s tough because of the Colorado shooting, but he’s a good kid.”
Record-Courier reporter Dave O’Brien contributed to this story.
Contact Drew Parker at [email protected].