Josiah Leach, 19, was arrested in April after a series of escalating threats through a web of email accounts, Facebook and an internet voiceover call. The threats led to three days of lockdowns at the high school and a one-day cancellation of classes districtwide.
The threats included messages that someone would “kill you and all your students” and “everyone would die tomorrow,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher in court Friday. One email message included a “murder list” with the names of five teachers and 11 students, including Leach, Drescher said.
Leach pleaded guilty to the crime of transmitting threats through interstate commerce, which is a felony. That charge applies because the online messages traveled out of state to reach the recipients.
The charge carries up to 5 years in prison, and up to a $250,000 fine. Leach will be sentenced at a hearing in February, but the plea agreement calls for five years of probation.
Leach told U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford that he is working in a restaurant on Shelburne Road and receiving counseling.
The U.S. Attorney’s office presented no evidence that Leach was preparing to act on the threats or that he had access to weapons. The threats mentioned knives and guns.
Leach was jailed for several days pending his arraignment in April and again for several days in May after prosecutors argued he violated his terms of release by using the internet.
In a court filing, federal prosecutors wrote that Leach told police “he felt he had been treated as a joke and wanted others to feel the same way,” which is as close to a motive for the threats that was presented during the case.
Leach declined to answer questions from reporters as he left court Friday.
