NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) � The mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his
teacher in Virginia pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to using
marijuana while possessing a firearm, which is illegal under U.S. law.

The federal crime is facing increasing scrutiny as more states legalize
the drug. But federal prosecutors in Virginia said Monday that such laws
protect communities.

Deja Taylor is accused of lying about her marijuana use on a form when she
bought the gun, which her son later used to shoot Abby Zwerner in her
classroom in Newport News. The first-grade teacher was seriously wounded
and has endured multiple surgeries.

Taylor�s attorneys agreed to a negotiated plea agreement with prosecutors
that calls for a sentence of 18 months to 24 months in prison. Sentencing
is scheduled for Oct. 18.

Attorney Gene Rossi described the shooting as �a perfect storm of horrible
consequences� in which a �brave courageous teacher almost lost her life.�

�Miss Taylor�s role in this tragedy is a complete accident and a complete
mistake,� he said. �She takes full responsibility for her son�s actions
and will feel guilt for the rest of her life.�

The federal case against Taylor is separate from the charges she faces on
the state level: felony child neglect and reckless storage of a firearm. A
trial for those counts is set for August.

Both cases are among the repercussions that followed the January shooting,
which shook the city of Newport News near the Atlantic Coast.

The federal charges against Taylor, 25, appear to be relatively rare. And
the case comes at a time when marijuana is legal in many U.S. states,
including Virginia.

Marijuana is still a controlled substance under U.S. law. And federal law
generally prohibits people from possessing firearms if they�ve been
convicted of a felony, been committed to a mental institution or are an
unlawful user of a controlled substance, among other things.

In the days after the 6-year-old shot his teacher, agents from the federal
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched Taylor�s home
and found marijuana, federal prosecutors said in a statement Monday.
Agents also searched Taylor�s mother�s house, where Taylor was staying,
and found about 24.5 grams of marijuana.

�A search of Taylor�s phone revealed numerous text messages illustrating
the pervasive scope of Taylor�s marijuana use,� prosecutors said.

When Taylor was pulled over by local police in 2021, they found �several
marijuana edibles that looked like rice treats� next to her son,
prosecutors said. Taylor denied all knowledge of drugs inside the vehicle.

When Taylor bought the 9mm handgun in 2022, Taylor falsely claimed on a
background check form that she didn�t use marijuana.

U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber said in a statement Monday that federal gun
ownership laws �exist to protect owners, their family members and the
communities where they live.�

�Failing to abide by those requirements � can have far-reaching
consequences,� Aber said.

In recent years, there�s been debate over the use of resources to
aggressively pursue people who give false information on background check
forms.

In 2018, a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that
authorities prosecute �a small percentage of individuals� who falsify
information on a form and are denied a purchase.

The race of those who are prosecuted is another concern, said Karen
O�Keefe, director of state policies for the pro-legalization group
Marijuana Policy Project.

In fiscal year 2021, 56% of the roughly 7,500 people convicted of breaking
the law were Black, O�Keefe said, citing statistics from the United States
Sentencing Commission. She did not have a breakdown for convictions
related to marijuana or other drug use.

�About 18% of Americans admitted to using cannabis in the last year and
about 40% owned guns,� O�Keefe added. �And so there�s an enormous pool of
people that are presumably breaking this law every day and face up to 15
years in prison if they were caught.�

Federal judges in Oklahoma and Texas recently ruled that the federal gun
ban on cannabis users is unconstitutional. They rolled back the
requirement in parts of those states.

Both judges cited a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that set new
standards for interpreting the Second Amendment.

Meanwhile, members of Congress have introduced legislation to end the
prohibition.

A bill proposed by Republican U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney of West Virginia would
allow medical marijuana users to have firearms. Legislation introduced by
Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Mast of Florida would go even further, ending
the ban in states that permit medical and recreational use.

�No one should be forced to choose between their rights: you have a right
to bear arms, and in many states, you have a right to use cannabis,� Mast
said in a statement in April.

The shooting in Newport News occurred Jan. 6, when Zwerner was shot in the
hand and chest as she sat at a reading table. She spent nearly two weeks
in the hospital and later told NBC she sometimes � can�t get up out of
bed.�

Zwerner is suing the school system for $40 million.

The attorney for Taylor in the state case, James Ellenson, has said Taylor
believed her gun was secured on a high closet shelf with a trigger lock
before the shooting occurred. He said last month it was still unclear how
the boy got the gun.

Regarding the searches of Taylor�s home and her mother�s home, federal
prosecutors said Monday: �A lockbox was not found in either of the
residences, nor was a trigger lock or key to a trigger lock ever found.�

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to-using-marijuana-while-having-a-firearm/