A letter filed on behalf of Charlie Tan this week asks that a federal judge sentence him to five years in prison.
Prosecutors in the illegal weapon case against Tan want him to admit that he used the illegally-purchased shotgun to kill his father, saying he should made the admission before being considered for any reduction in sentence. Tan has pleaded guilty to having a second party buy the gun for him after he was refused.
The letter filed by the 23-year-old Tan’s defense team is one of 38 they submitted. It’s written personally by Tan, and comes the closest he ever has to admitting that he killed his father in their Pittsford home. Tan says he “acted on impulse” and made “a series of immature and irrational decisions.” But he does not admit to shooting his father.
The letter describes a domestic violence situation in which Jim Tan threatened to kill his wife, Charlie Tan’s mother, if she annoyed him again. Tan writes that he felt there was no other option and he had to protect his mother.