Two teens sentenced in plot to attack Beach school

VIRGINIA BEACH

The two teenage co-conspirators drawn into a plot to blow up Landstown High School were sentenced Monday to supervised probation.

The two former students, both now 17, previously had pleaded guilty to two felony counts each for joining Philip Bay, in a scheme to attack students in April 2009. The teens were convicted of felony charges of possession of a sawed-off shotgun and possession of an explosive device.

One of them had reported the planned attack to police. Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Randall M. Blow sentenced him to one year of supervised probation and ordered him to continue counseling and psychological treatment.

The second former student became active in the plot for several weeks after the first defendant dropped out, according to court testimony.

Blow sentenced the second defendant to an undetermined amount of supervised probation.

Blow also barred both from all Virginia Beach school property, except for classes at the adult learning center.

Blow said the two cooperated with police but needed to be held responsible. Had they followed through with the plans, he said, it would have been a historic tragedy for the city and country.

Attorneys for both teens argued that Bay, now 19, drew in the younger students and masterminded the plot. Tried as an adult, Bay was convicted last month of 18 felonies and could face life in prison when he is sentenced in Circuit Court in February. Both of the juvenile defendants testified against Bay at his trial.

Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney Harvey Bryant said the teens were "both very fortunate" to receive probation. They also served five months in juvenile detention and several more months in forms of home detention, he said.

Bryant said the offenses were serious and that the teens planned the deadly details in notebooks and videos. If the plot had succeeded, Bryant said, "we still would have been dealing with the consequences."

Attorneys for both families said their clients declined to comment on the sentences.

Both teens appeared in videos with Bay talking about the attacks and showing off weapons, according to trial testimony. Bay engineered the plot to kill at least 30 people in a morning of mayhem.

Lionel Hancock said his client was a whistle-blower who tried to stop the attack. The teen was friends with Bay for several months but left the school and the plot in early 2009, according to testimony.

After he transferred from Landstown High School, he told his mother and a neighbor, a Norfolk police officer, about Bay's plan. Virginia Beach police were immediately notified.

Hancock said the boy is working toward his high school equivalency degree and "is trying to get his life together."

The second defendant met Bay through music classes and was involved in the plot for several weeks, said his attorney, Barton Daniel.

He described the boy as intelligent, quiet and thoughtful.

Judge Blow noted in court that the defendant was a good student and earned A's in college-level courses.

Daniel said the sentence would allow his client to also earn his high school equivalency degree and go to college.

Louis Hansen, (757) 446-2341, louis.hansen@pilotonline.com