UPDATE
A 15-year-old student pleaded no contest Thursday morning in a December 18 bomb threat that impacted three Horry County schools.
The teen is charged with Conveying False Information Regarding Attempted Use of a Destructive Device.
If you enter a no-contest plea, it means that you are not admitting guilt, but are allowing a judge to sentence you.
"Do you understand that I consider that as a guilty plea?," asked Judge Ronald Norton in the courtroom to the teen who replied, "Yes sir."
A note in a bathroom at Myrtle Beach High school said "Hey I'm back, but this time in the high school is a trigger for three bombs, one in the middle school, one in the "I", one high school. Hurry up"
No devices were found at any of the schools. All of the schools were evacuated for hours.
Norton sentenced the teen to the Department of Juvenile Justice for an indeterminate amount of time, not to exceed his 21st birthday, the harshest penalty a juvenile can receive.
The sentence could be anywhere from one to three months, 12-18 months or 36-54 months depending on the severity of the charge, the juvenile's previous history and how the juvenile behaves while serving the sentence with DJJ, said assistant solicitor Carolina Fox.
"Juveniles get credit for good behavior just like adults," added Fox.
Fox believes the sentence is not because of the threat itself but because of the boy's criminal history.
The county's file on him is so in-depth, it's nearly three inches thick, dating back to when the boy was only nine.
"At 14 he was under the influence at school and admitted to smoking spice. Then took the key from the nurse and tried to get into the nurse's locked medicine cabinet to get her drugs which he told someone he was going to sell," Fox said to the judge before his sentencing.
