But prosecutors notified his defence attorney in February of their intent to resume prosecution after the US Probation Office notified the government that Gaskill had violated the conditions of his diversion.
The government's filing does not indicate exactly how Gaskill violated those conditions, but his defence attorney, Stephen Ariagno noted in his response to it that Gaskill had not violated any laws and had refrained from the use of alcohol and drugs. He also had submitted his apology letter and paid all fees.
His attorney contends that Gaskill, who suffers from learning disabilities, had struggled with online learning after the coronavirus pandemic shut down the in-person programme. When the program restarted this year, the classes quickly filled to capacity and he was unable to start them before March 1. He is now attending in-person classes, according to the defence filing.
Ariagno did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the judge's ruling granting the government's request to resume prosecution.
Gaskill got into an online argument with Ohio gamer Casey Viner while they were playing the Call of Duty video game. Authorities said Viner recruited Tyler R Barriss to "swat" Gaskill, who was 19 at the time. But the address they used was old, leading police to Finch, who was not involved in the dispute or playing the video game.
Barriss, a Los Angeles man with an online reputation for "swatting", called police from Los Angeles to falsely report a shooting and kidnapping at that Wichita address. Finch was shot by police when he opened the door to see what was happening outside.
Gaskill was charged as a co-conspirator after knowingly giving Barriss the same former address and taunting him to "try something".
Barriss is serving 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to 51 counts in April 2019. Viner received a 15-month prison sentence in September 2019 after pleading guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
