John Schultz IV, the teen accused of plotting a mass shooting at a local school in Rochester, Indiana, gets sentenced on one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
He received a sentence of 19 years and six months imprisonment. Schultz had already served 566 days jail time, and the remaining portion of the sentence was suspended, according to a report by ABC 57.
He will also be on probation for three years. He will not be allowed to drink or use drugs while on probation. He is prohibited from contacting pupils at Rochester or Caston and Donald Robin Jr, who are also charged in the case.
Schultz is mandated to complete 90 hours of community service and obtain his GED within the first 18 months of his probation.
Foiled Murder Spree
He accepted a plea agreement before jurors completed deliberations at his trial last month. His first trial ended in a mistrial because the jury could not compromise.
Schultz pleaded guilty to conspiracy to perform murder that does not result in death as part of the plea agreement. The remaining charges were dismissed, including a second count of conspiracy to commit murder, one count of intimidation, and three possession charges.
Meanwhile, Robin will be imprisoned for 17 years with nine years suspended in March 2021. Once released, he will serve three years of probation.
In July 2020, Schultz was charged with conspiracy to commit murder at Rochester High School and Caston Schools, including intimidation and drug possession, according to a report by WNDU. He got arrested after a family member voiced concern about his conduct, fearing that he and a friend, Donald Robin Jr, were plotting to do a mass shooting inspired by the Columbine massacre per New York Post.
An Opportunity for a Fresh Start
Following his arrest, Robin Jr pleaded guilty and served an eight-year sentence. Schultz was initially tried in August 2021. However, the case was dismissed due to a hung jury. The case was retried, but the jury was split down the middle and deadlocked. After nearly nine hours of deliberation, no one wanted to go forward with the third trial.
According to Fulton County Prosecutor Mike Marrs, they started "discussing a plea" at the 11th hour. Eventually, they did a plea that called Schultz "to plead to it with no agreement but the cap on time served." At his sentencing, Judge A. Christopher Lee accepted Schultz's plea. He was given a suspended nineteen-and-a-half-year sentence and was placed on immediate probation of three years.
Marrs remarked that Schultz got the opportunity "to turn things around," however, he also got "a lot hanging over his head" if he failed to "fly straight over the next three years."
Schultz's lawyers are also hopeful that these programs and conditions will help him improve himself in the long run.
Attorney Joseph Bauer sees it as "a new start" and "a second chance at life" for his client as Schultz will have the get all the assistance he needs to overcome "the mental health and the drug problems he's faced" that brought him in trouble.
Schultz is moving to Michigan, but his probation will continue to be processed in Fulton County.
