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Florida woman charged with threatening Sandy Hook parent

December 7, 2016 6:44 PM EST

The house where Adam Lanza lived with his mother Nancy Lanza is seen in Newtown, Connecticut December 14, 2014. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

(Reuters) - A Florida woman accused of making death threats to the parent of a child killed at Sandy Hook Elementary school because she believes the 2012 shooting rampage was a hoax has been indicted on federal charges, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Lucy Richards, 57, was arrested earlier this week on four counts of transmitting threats via interstate commerce, Wifredo Ferrer, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said in a written statement.

Richards, of Tampa, faces a maximum of five years in prison on each count if convicted at trial, though federal sentencing guidelines typically call for less time.

Wifredo and George Piro, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Miami field office, said Richards is accused of making the threats because she believes the massacre at Sandy Hook was a hoax and never took place.

The parent who was threatened lives in South Florida, according to prosecutors.

Radio and web-streaming host Alex Jones, a right-wing conspiracy theorist, has said the Sandy Hook shooting was a “hoax” involving child actors.

Adam Lanza, 20, opened fire at Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut on Dec. 14, 2012, killing 20 first graders and six staff members before taking his own life. Lanza had killed his mother at their home before embarking on the shooting rampage.

The town subsequently demolished both the school and Lanza'a home.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Tom Brown)



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