RICHMOND, Va. — In what is likely the final legal step related to the now debunked July 4 Richmond mass shooting plot, Julio Alvarado Dubon was sentenced to 16 months in prison for weapons possession by someone in the United States illegally.
WTVRDubon took responsibility for overstaying his work visa and buying two weapons that were found in his Richmond home.
But federal judge Hannah Lauch made a point to get it on the record that Dubon’s alleged connection to an unfounded mass shooting threat against the 2022 Dogwood Dell fireworks show was “overplayed” and “took on a life of its own.”
In July 2022, former Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith and multiple city leaders accused Dubon of being the mastermind of a terror plot to commit a mass shooting at the fireworks show attended by thousands of Richmonders. Ultimately, there was no evidence of any such plot .
AP Photo/Steve Helber