A former ConVal Regional High School student arrested in November for making an online threat took a plea agreement with a suspended sentence in the Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester Friday morning.
Wheeler, 19, of Antrim was one of three ConVal students accused of creating and posting an image on Snapchat. In the photo, one of the students holds two realistic-looking firearms with the caption “Don’t go to school Wednesday.”
Wheeler was ultimately charged with two felony-level counts of criminal threatening, which could have meant a state prison sentence of up to 14 years if he was convicted.
“The felony charges were ultimately resolved into the plea of the misdemeanor criminal threatening charge and the agreed-upon sentence for that plea,” Hillsborough County Attorney Michael Conlon said Friday afternoon.
Based on the Nov. 7 threat, the ConVal School District closed all 11 schools in the district for the day. More than 2,200 students, their parents and about 500 staff members were affected by the closures.
While Wheeler was not in the photo, prosecutors said, he was the student who posted the image on Snapchat. The two other students involved were also arrested and charged with criminal threatening-related charges, but because they were minors their names were not released, Antrim police said in November.
According to Wheeler’s arrest affidavit, all three teens admitted to being involved in taking the photo and posting it to Snapchat, as well as smoking marijuana the night it was taken.
Friday morning Wheeler pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of criminal threatening and was given a 12-month suspended county jail sentence, Conlon said.
Conlon said the suspended sentence will be in place for the next five years and can be brought forward during that time if Wheeler fails to comply with the terms of the agreement.
Terms of the plea agreement include that he participate in meaningful counseling and treatment, receive a mental health evaluation and comply with any recommendation from the evaluation. He must also remain at least 300 feet away from all ConVal School District buildings and write “a meaningful letter of apology to the students and staff of the ConVal School District,” Conlon said.
The terms also bar Wheeler from possessing firearms, including pellet guns such as Airsoft and BB guns. Conlon said the guns in the photo were Airsoft, which is a type of pellet gun designed to look real.
“Those were the weapons used in the picture that led to the charge,” Conlon said. “In this case, for Anthony Wheeler, it’s comforting to know that he didn’t have the ability to follow through with the threat.”
After his arrest, Wheeler was considered a danger to the community by the judge and was held without bail under preventive detention for more than 70 days in the county jail.
However, after the similar Hillsborough County trial of John Thomas resulted in a not guilty verdict on Feb. 14, Wheeler’s judge decided to release Wheeler on personal recognizance bail, Conlon said. Thomas spent close to a year in the county jail on preventive detention, he said. Thomas allegedly made a verbal threat about bringing a gun to his high school graduation, a comment Thomas contended was a joke.
“Law enforcement will always hold the safety of our school children and our community to the highest regard. … Young adults may think it’s a joke, but it’s certainly not a joke to anyone listening,” Conlon said. “Are they actually going to harm people or are they just trying to get attention through means of fear. And that’s a really tough decision to make and analyze.”
Conlon said his office was in close contact with Antrim Police Chief Scott Lester throughout the plea deal process. Lester, in turn, was in close contact with community members so that they were represented in the process.
“I think, in this case, I think we came to the right decision,” Conlon said.