Charlie Tan indicted on federal gun charges

Charlie Tan, the Pittsford man who had a murder charge dismissed in the slaying of his father, was charged in a three-count federal indictment that was unsealed Friday.

Tan is charged with receiving a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit an offense and two counts of false statement during purchase of a firearm, according to the indictment. The alleged purchase happened four days before his father's slaying in 2015.

Tan, a Canadian citizen, was arrested after entering the United States over the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge earlier Friday. He is in federal custody awaiting an initial appearance in federal court in Syracuse, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Southwick said.

Southwick said Tan was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Tan will be arraigned at 4 p.m. at the James M. Hanley Federal Building in Syracuse.

According to the indictment, Tan received a firearm, a Remington model 870 12-gauge shotgun, Winchester 12-gauge shotgun ammunition, and Remington 12-gauge shotgun ammunition "with intent to commit, among other felonies, murder in the second degree, manslaughter in the first degree, and manslaughter in the second degree."

The other counts allege Tan lied to a store employee at the Walmart in Cortland, Cortland County, to obtain the firearm.

Friend Whitney Knickerbocker reportedly bought the gun at Tan's request after the store initially declined to sell the gun to Tan. Tan was turned down because he's a Canadian citizen. His paperwork was eventually approved — non-citizens can own guns in the United States — but by then the gun had already been purchased.

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Attorney Brian DeCarolis, who along with James Nobles represented Tan during his first trial, confirmed he will represent Tan at his arraignment.

In November 2015, then Monroe County Court Judge James Piampiano dismissed the murder charge against Tan.

Tan was in his sophomore year at Cornell University on Feb. 9, 2015, when his father, Liang "Jim" Tan, was found dead in the second-floor office of their Coachside Lane home in Pittsford. Charles Tan was charged with murder and accused of shooting his father at close range with a 12-gauge shotgun.

Piampiano ruled on what is called a "trial order of dismissal," a standard request defense lawyers make during a trial for a dismissal of the criminal charges.

To agree to dismiss the indictment, a judge, while looking at the evidence in the "light most favorable to the prosecution," must decide that the proof is not sufficient to warrant the allegations against the accused.

A panel of appellate judges ruled in March that Tan cannot be retried for the slaying, ruling that Piampiano's dismissal cannot be reversed.

However, the panel of appellate judges said that the decision from Piampiano, while it can't be reversed, was wrong in its claims that the evidence was insufficient to support the murder charge.

"Were we able to review the merits (of the allegations against Tan), however, we would agree with the People that the court erred in dismissing the indictment," the appellate panel ruled.

Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley said in a statement, "Unfortunately, we are unable to pursue further charges in state court so we are certainly interested in how the federal prosecutors will move forward on their indictment against Charlie Tan."

WCLEVELAND@Gannett.com

GCRAIG@Gannett.com