A Huntington Beach High School student was sentenced Thursday to 140 days in jail after a school secretary found a note that stated the teen had left a bomb on the campus.
Christopher Michael Casey, 18, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of reporting a false bomb threat.
In addition to more than four months of jail time, Casey was sentenced to six years of formal probation and was ordered to stay at least 200 yards away from the high school, prosecutor Andrew Katz said.
"That was not our offer," Katz said. "I wanted a year in jail."
The teen was serving detention on Dec. 14, 2012, when he wrote a note claiming a bomb was hidden at the school and would detonate at an unspecified time. Casey left the paper on his teacher’s desk, Katz said.
A secretary found the note and told the principal, who alerted the Huntington Beach Police Department.
Police arrested Casey at the school the day the note was found. Police did not find any bombs or explosives.
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The Orange County District Attorney originally filed the charge as a felony and objected the reduction to a misdemeanor, Katz said.
"My theory was simple: this is very serious, and if the court wants to reduce it, they can entertain it at a future date after he spends one, two, three years on probation," Katz said. "Why reward him in advance? I felt given the serious nature of the charge, he should have to earn that at a later date."
The court ruled to reduce the charge after the defense made a motion to reduce it, Katz said.
Casey has been jailed since his arrest on Dec. 14, and will receive credit for the 70 days he has already spent in custody.
