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Gregory Tartamella
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The parent whose angry on-campus tirade cut short the Kaiser High School football team’s 2017-2018 season is not going to jail for assaulting and harassing the head football coach, threatening a vice principal and harassing a campus security officer.
A state judge sentenced Gregory Tartamella on Wednesday to four years of probation.
The prosecutor had asked Circuit Judge Faauuga Tootoo to sentence Tartamella to five years in prison.
Tootoo said a prison term is not warranted.
“He does not have a record. He’s apologized. There’s no question (the Tartamellas) are embarrassed. Everybody saw the video, the way he berated everyone who was there,” he said.
A state jury watched cellphone video of Tartamella’s tirade, which included hitting head coach Arnold Martinez on the arm. The crime is a felony because it involved an educational worker within an educational facility. Martinez later resigned as head coach but remains a teacher at the school.
Tartamella told the jurors in March that he was angry because his stepson told him he was not allowed to have his picture taken with the rest of the football players because he had been kicked off the team. The jurors deliberated for about an hour before finding Tartamella guilty on all counts, as charged.
He had been charged separately with harassment for a later incident involving the stepson. Another judge dismissed the case because the stepson failed multiple times to show up for the trial. He did, however, testify as a defense witness in the Kaiser case.
Tootoo said from his own experience watching his daughter play club volleyball, he’s seen parents trying to live their lives vicariously through their children. He said hopefully, Tartamella has learned his lesson.