Teen Sentenced in School Threat; Prosecutors Used Terrorism Laws
A teenager convicted of plotting to kill fellow students was sentenced to prison Thursday in what the prosecution called the first case to apply U.S. anti-terrorism laws to threats of school violence.
Andrew Osantowski, 18, of suburban Detroit will serve at least 4 1/2 years in prison, said Steve Kaplan, a Macomb County assistant prosecutor. He said it was the first prosecution and conviction under a federal anti-terrorism statute passed in 2002.
Last month, a Macomb County jury convicted Osantowski of “making a terrorist threat” after he wrote messages on the Internet about the possibility of killing students at his Chippewa Valley High School.
Osantowski also was found guilty of possessing a firearm while committing a felony and using a computer to make a terrorist threat.
Police arrested Osantowski in September after discovering the Internet messages. They also found what Kaplan described as an arsenal at the teen’s home consisting of three weapons, one of them an AK-47 assault rifle, and 3,000 rounds of ammunition and pipe-bomb material.
“It’s one thing to talk and it’s another to have the wherewithal, and he did,” Kaplan said.
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