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by Dawn Slade
One of three teens involved in the Bock bomb incident last summer pled guilty to an amended plea in Mille Lacs County District Court Thursday, Oct. 29.
The original felony charge was reduced to civil disorder, a gross misdemeanor.
Because the teenager turned 18 after the incident, he will serve 10 days in Mille Lacs County Jail.
He will also need to do 15 days with the Sentence-To-Serve program by July 1, 2010, give $500 to a local charity (to be determined by the defendant and his probation officer), agree to a DNA sample, and will be on indefinite probation.
The teen admitted to making the explosive devices, showing two others how to use the devices (one has charges pending, no charges were brought against the other teen), then igniting them near Bock.
Ironically, it was the assistant county attorney Heather Griesert who told District Court Judge Steve Anderson that the defendant had no prior criminal history whatsoever in the county or anywhere else.
“The kids really just made an uniformed mistake,” Griesert said. “They weren’t near a public place. The agreement is in his best interest and serves public safety.”
The defendant, who has been under house arrest, has been checking in weekly with his probation officer and is continuing his schooling, while working for his father’s business.
Before sentencing, Anderson wanted the teenager to understand what he had done.
“Law enforcement can’t take the chance when we live in times like this,” Anderson told the teenager. “I want to make sure you understand the consequences and you think next time before doing anything.”
The teenager then pled guilty to a second charge of a weapons violation for possessing a short-barreled shotgun.
Defense attorney Ethan Allen noted that the shotgun was inoperable.
The teen was given the same sentence for the weapons violation, which is to run concurrent with the civil disorder conviction.
The judge also lifted the house arrest order.
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