JEFFERSON - A 16-year-old student faces trial as an adult next month on charges that he took a bomb into a high school in Jefferson last spring and threatened to detonate it.
Andrew Thomas Criswell of Pendergrass was 15 when he was accused of taking the bomb to Jackson County Comprehensive High School's main office April 12th. An official in the Jackson County Superior Court clerk's office said Tuesday that Criswell faces felony charges of aggravated assault, possession of a destructive device, possession of a destructive device with intent to intimidate, false imprisonment and three counts of terroristic threats and acts.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin February 4th in Jackson County Superior Court.
The Athens Banner-Herald reports that Piedmont Judicial Circuit District Attorney Rick Bridgeman says that if convicted, Criswell would face a mandatory sentence of at least 10 years in prison without parole but could serve up to 65 years. The newspaper says he would not discuss the case.
Bridgeman did not immediately return telephone calls from The Associated Press on Tuesday.
No injuries were reported, but school officials evacuated 1,700 students because of the threat.
Criswell was charged as a juvenile, but a juvenile court judge transferred the case to Superior Court, where a grand jury indicted Criswell in September.
He pleaded not guilty at an arraignment in October and is being held without bond at the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center.
Saturday
September 21st, 2024
3:41PM
