FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (AP) – A Florida woman accused of threatening the parent of a boy killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting because she thought it was a hoax, pleaded not guilty Monday and was barred from visiting websites that promote such false conspiracy theories.
by The Associated Press via The Newton Bee
December 23, 2016
Lucy Richards, 57, entered her plea in Fort Lauderdale federal court after a public defender was appointed to represent her. The lawyer, Michael Spivack, declined to comment after the hearing.
Richards was arrested December 7 in Tampa on four felony counts of transmitting threats to Lenny Pozner, father of 6-year-old Noah Pozner who died in the 2012 mass shooting in Newtown. Richards lives in Brandon, near Tampa, but threats were received by Pozner in Palm Beach County, according to court records.
Each charge carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.
Richards, who is free on $25,000 bail, entered the courtroom wearing furry slippers and using an aluminum walker. She told US Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer she is on disability and has not worked in more than a decade when she was a waitress. [READ MORE]