A former Kentwood High student pleaded not guilty Thursday in King County Superior Court to the charge of making threats to bomb or injure property in March at the Covington school.
Ryan D. LaPlante, 19, is scheduled to return to court July 3 when a trial date could be set or attorneys could ask for more time to prepare the case, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. LaPlante was booked Thursday morning into the county jail and then given a conditional release.
LaPlante failed to appear for his initial court date on June 10. That caused a judge to issue a $15,000 bench warrant. He was taken into custody June 13 at the Benton County Jail in Kennewick. A new court date of June 20 was set.
Court officials then quashed the bench warrant after it was determined the notice of LaPlante’s initial arraignment date was sent to an incorrect address, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, in an email. LaPlante’s custody status returned to a summons rather than a warrant.
“He appeared in court (Thursday) and was arraigned,” Donohoe said. “He remains out of custody.”
Prosecutors have charged LaPlante with threats to bomb or injure property in connection with an emailed threat March 29 to the Kentwood principal that caused the school to evacuate 2,000 students and staff and be shut down for a day.
LaPlante told King County Sheriff’s Office detectives he emailed the threat because he was angry that he did not graduate in 2012 after attending Kentwood for four years, according to charing papers filed May 28.
If convicted as charged, the sentence range for LaPlante would be three to nine months in jail.
Detectives initially arrested LaPlante April 6 at his father’s home in Kennewick. LaPlante had lived in Kent with his mother before moving to the Tri-Cities.
Detectives served a search warrant at the Kennewick house and seized two computers. Investigators used information found on those computers to connect LaPlante to the email sent to Kentwood principal Doug Hostetter, according to charging papers.
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