Guilty plea in Jackson Co. school bomb case

JEFFERSON - A Pendergrass teenager pleaded guilty Friday to charges growing out of an incident last year at Jackson County Comprehensive High School in which he went to school with a bomb strapped to his body and threatened to detonate it.

Andrew Thomas Criswell, 16, was scheduled to go on trial Monday in Jefferson.

Piedmont Judicial Circuit District Attorney Rick Bridgeman said Criswell pleaded guilty Possession of a Destructive Device, False Imprisonment and three counts of
Terroristic Threats. He was charged as an adult and faces a minimum sentence of three years and a maximum possible sentence of 45 years, according to Bridgeman.

Sentencing is set for February 14 at 9:00.

The incident happened April 11. Criswell walked into the school and into an administrative office with the bomb and held authorities at bay for several hours, threatening to detonate it, before finally surrendering peacefully.

No injuries were reported, but school officials evacuated 1,700 students because of the threat.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/2/206424