OGDEN — Joshua Kyler Hoggan pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of a weapon of mass destruction in a scheme to explode a bomb at Roy High School and was sentenced to a minimum of six months in a juvenile facility.
Hoggan, 17, also was ordered by Juvenile Court Judge Janice Frost to pay $8,000 to $10,000 in restitution to Roy High to re-key the school.
In exchange for Hoggan’s guilty plea, prosecutors abandoned efforts to try him as an adult.
If Hoggan had been tried as an adult and convicted, he could have faced one to 15 years in prison, said Weber County Deputy Attorney Letitia Toombs.
Defense attorney Scott Nickle told the Standard-Examiner after Tuesday’s hearing that the plea “allows Josh to get on with rehabilitation.”
The plea agreement was the result of lengthy discussions among prosecutors, Nickle, police and Roy High officials, Toombs said.
“The ultimate best resolution for everyone involved is what happened today,” she said. “For the next six months, the community can rest a little more at peace knowing he (Hoggan) is confined.”
Toombs also praised Roy police for their quick action in handling the situation after being contacted by Roy High administrators.
“They did a very good job,” she said. “We stopped something that could be far worse than it was.”
Toombs declined to comment on whether Hoggan’s guilty plea would affect the case against fellow Roy High student and alleged co-conspirator Dallin Todd Morgan, 18, also charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction.
A preliminary hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to bind Morgan over for trial is scheduled for May 14 in 2nd District Court.
A probable cause affidavit filed by police details text messages from Hoggan to another student about setting off a bomb at a school assembly and stealing an airplane from Ogden-Hinckley Airport to escape.
Police have said among the evidence recovered are computers, maps of the school and information about the school’s security systems.
Hoggan also told a police detective he was fascinated by the April 20, 1999, shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. Hoggan flew to Colorado on Dec. 12, 2011, and interviewed Columbine Principal Frank DeAngelis.
Roy Police Chief Greg Whinham has said the attack was to take place in early February.
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