Teen admits guilt in school bomb threat

One of two former Mundelein High School students charged with sending e-mail bomb threats to the school pleaded guilty to a reduced charge Monday.

Dylan Britt, 18, also pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in a drunken-driving arrest that occurred after he was charged with making the threat.

Britt, of 1314 Marlbourgh Court, and James Voss, 17, of 1104 Crystal St., both in Mundelein, were arrested in January in the email case.

Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Mary Stanton said Britt used the stolen Internet identity of another student and a computer in the school library to send the first message at 9:59 a.m. on Jan. 25.

She said the message, which went to several administrators at the school, warned a bomb in a locker was going to explode at 10:10 that morning.

Stanton said Voss e-mailed a second threat at 11:55 a.m. to the same administrators from a computer at his home.

Police were notified and the school was ordered locked down until it was determined the threat was not legitimate.

The school's technology department helped identify who sent the messages, Stanton said, and Britt and Voss were arrested a few days later.

Both were originally charged with falsely making a terrorist threat, a felony with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Britt pleaded guilty Monday to felony disorderly conduct, a crime with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. He also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless driving in an Aug. 5 incident where he was originally charged with DUI and underage consumption of alcohol by a minor.

Associate Judge Christopher Stride sentenced Britt to two years on probation for the felony and one year court supervision for the driving offense.

Voss has pleaded not guilty to the original charge against him, and is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 6.