Dec 16, 2020
CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal judge Tuesday sentenced an apologetic Ohio man to two years behind bars and one year of probation for falsely claiming to be a long-missing Illinois child.
Brian Michael Rini, now 25, said he was sorry during the video hearing before U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett made his sentence official.
“I wish that I could just take it back,” Rini said. “I am sorry to the family.”
Kyle Healey, an assistant U.S. attorney, admonished Rini for causing “unnecessary pain” by raising false hope for relatives of Timmothy Pitzen, an Aurora, Illinois, boy who disappeared at age 6 in 2011.