LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. -- Joseph Holtgrewe was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to two felony counts of intimidation Monday in the Dearborn County Superior Court.
The Dearborn/Ohio Counties Prosecutor’s Office said Holtgrewe admitted to one count of making threatening statements toward teachers and staff at East Central High School in April and another count of making threats against the school resource officer.
During the sentencing hearing, testimony indicated Holtgrewe repeatedly threatened to do harm to staff members and teachers and made separate threats to kill the officer.
The testimony also indicated that Holtgrewe had made previous threats against other students and “to blow up the school.” Despite treatment and intervention offered to Holtgrewe by the school, the threats escalated and resulted in a physical altercation with the officer.
Charges were filed as a result of the threats Holtgrewe made on April 22.
At the end of the hearing, the judge sentenced Holtgrewe to the maximum two and a half years on each count, with no time suspended, to be served consecutively for a total sentence of five years in jail.