School bomb plot suspect pleads guilty in federal case

FLORENCE — 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 (N.C.) 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 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 the teen planned to blow up Chesterfield High School, where he was a senior at the time.

In the plea agreement, Schallenberger pleaded guilty to:

• Receiving and attempting to receive an explosive with the knowledge and intent that it would be used to kill, injure or intimidate an individual, and damage and destroy a building, vehicle, or other real and personal property. If convicted of this charge, he faced a maximum possible prison term of 10 years.
• Attempting to damage and destroy real property owned, possessed or leased to Chesterfield High School and the Chesterfield County School District, by means of fire and an explosive. This crime is punishable by a mandatory minimum prison term of five years and a maximum possible term of 20 years.

He’d also been charged in a three-count indictment with possessing an unregistered destructive device which carried a maximum sentence of 10 years. 

That charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rose Mary Parham and Alfred “Buddy” Bethea, who are prosecuting the case.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Parham read excepts from the teen’s journal where he wrote that he detonated his first completed pipe bomb in July 2007.

“Definitely a keeper. Absolutely brilliant! Brilliant and deadly. Awesome,” Schallenberger wrote.

Investigators who confiscated the journal also found drawings of Chesterfield High School and an audio tape clearly meant to be found after the boy’s death, Parham said.

Schallenberger referred to his plot as “Columbine 2” and had a multi-step plan that included chaining the doors of the high school to keep students from escaping while he took a firearm and began “killing with purpose all I chose,” according to the journal.

Six months before his arrest, Schallenberger expressed how anxious he was to kill in his journal.

“If I could, I would kill nearly all of mankind, executing anyone I deem unfit,” he said.

Schallenberger later wrote that most people didn’t think of him as the type of person who would conceive a murderous plot. He wasn’t an outcast and had friends of many different races, wrote said.

The teen went on to say he related to people like Timothy McVeigh, the mastermind of the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Schallenberger referred to himself as a martyr and said his plan had a purpose and he had a motive.

“If I had to give one motive although there are many, it would have to be this: I am sick and tired of everyone that’s a fake,” he wrote.

Days before his arrest, Schallenberger had an argument with his parents and stormed out, telling them that if they called police, he would kill them when they arrived.

Chesterfield County Sheriff Sam Parker said after Wednesday’s hearing he remember what it was like to interview Schallenberger just after his arrest.

“I was thinking, ‘This is unbelievable. This is Chesterfield County, this is a good little guy,” Parker said.

During the interview, Schallenberger told Parker that he intended to die, go to heaven and “kill Jesus Christ himself.”

Schallenberger’s attorneys, federal public defenders Mike Meetze and Bill Nettles, made known their intentions of using a insanity defense in the case in March. Both lawyers said Wednesday attorneys must submit a document stating their intentions even if there’s a chance they may use an insanity defense.

Nettles said they never doubted Schallenberger’s competency, but competency and insanity are two very different things.

Someone can be insane, but competent, Nettles said.

Competent means a person understands the nature of the proceedings and is able to assist his or her lawyers, Nettles said.

Insane means someone is suffering from a mental condition or disease that prevented him or her from understanding right from wrong at the time the offense was committed, Meetze said.

Schallenberger has undergone several psychiatric evaluations over that last year and was found to be competent.

Schallenberger still faces state charges in connection with the case. Fourth Circuit Solicitor Will Rogers hasn’t said whether he intends to pursue those charges.