Home confinement for man accused of scouting ‘sniper points’ at Folsom High
A man facing gun charges after looking for “sniper points” at Folsom High School will remain on home confinement with an ankle monitor after he is released from an inpatient psychiatric program next month, a federal judge in Sacramento ruled Friday.
Curt Taras, who was 53 at the time of his arrest last fall, has been receiving care at a Veterans Administration facility in Oregon for what his lawyers said was an acute mental health episode that led him in a state of paranoia to the high school.
His attorney, Matthew Taylor, said Taras, a civil engineer who suffered a traumatic brain injury in the Air Force and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, experienced a paranoid episode triggered by the deterioration of his marriage. In a statement to Folsom police at the time of his arrest, Taras said he was worried about students’ safety at the school and went there to check for vulnerabilities.
He did not bring a gun to the school, but Folsom police said he had a knife, and they later found a firearm in his car, which was parked in a lot that prosecutors said was within 1,000 feet of the school, a violation of federal law.
A four-count federal indictment alleges that he illegally possessed firearms and ammunition at his home, and that he had a gun within 1,000 feet of a school. Taras also faces a state charge stemming from his visit to an elementary school attended by his son, in violation of a court order.
At a hearing in October, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Abendroth said that 11 guns were registered to Taras,including one that he failed to turn over to police. He was prohibited from owning the weapons by a Sacramento Superior Court order that bars him from harassing, stalking and threatening an intimate partner, the indictment says.
Taras is represented by two Sacramento-area attorneys, Mark Reichel and Taylor, who say the federal indictment in his case is highly unusual in a mental health situation in which the defendant is already facing charges at the state level.
His transfer to the VA psychiatric facility was delayed until December because Taras’ arrest on federal charges halted proceedings in a state court plea agreement that would have allowed him to be admitted sooner.
On Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Allison Claire ruled that when Taras is released from the facility next month, he can await trial on home incarceration while wearing an ankle monitor, Taylor said.
If convicted, Taras faces up to 15 years in federal prison for each count of illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition and up to five years for possessing a gun within 1,000 feet of a school. Each count also carries a potential fine of up to $250,000.
