Former Cornell Student Gets 20 Years On Gun Charges

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — A former Ivy League student who was charged but not convicted of killing his father has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for having someone buy the shotgun used in the slaying.

The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reports that Charles Tan told a federal judge at his sentencing Monday that he took responsibility for his actions, but did not admit to the killing.

Tan was a 19-year-old student at Cornell University when Liang Tan was killed in the family's suburban Rochester home in 2015. In a letter to the sentencing judge, Tan said he acted to protect his mother from his abusive father.

Tan's murder trial ended in a mistrial in October 2015 when jurors failed to reach a verdict. He pleaded guilty in June to three gun charges.