State News

Teenager pleads guilty in bombing plot

MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE

Published: August 9, 2009

FLORENCE, S.C.

A Mount Croghan teen accused of plotting to blow up his high school has pleaded guilty to two of the federal charges against him in exchange for a 10-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center at Butner Federal Correctional Complex, where he can receive mental-health treatment, according to a plea agreement the teen signed.

Ryan Schallenberger, 19, initially entered a not-guilty plea in the case in June 2008, but pleaded guilty Wednesday afternoon during a change-of-plea hearing at the McMillan Federal Building in Florence.

U.S. District Court Judge Bryan Harwell accepted Schallenberger's plea but will not impose a sentence until after a pre-sentencing report has been completed.

Schallenberger was arrested April 19, 2008, after his parents intercepted a package addressed to him containing 20 pounds of ammonium nitrate shipped to him from a gun enthusiast in Kentucky.

Investigators in the case allege that the teen planned to blow up Chesterfield High School, where he was a senior at the time.

Schallenberger still faces state charges in the case.