Two former Auburn Middle School students were convicted today of conspiracy to commit murder for their roles in plotting to kill four people at the school, including the principal and school resource officer.
 
But Jessee Collins, 15, and Dylan McCroskey, 14, received very different sentences. The names of the juveniles were made public during an open court hearing today. The Roanoke Times publishes names of juveniles 14 or older who are charged with felonies in open court proceedings.
 
According to court testimony, Collins was the boy who took his older brother's Civil War replica .22-caliber revolver and ammunition to school March 16. While being held at the New River Valley Juvenile Detention Center after his arrest, he also reportedly was caught with a shank that he threatened to use on McCroskey, who had cooperated with authorities.
 
After hearing testimony about Collins's troubled childhood and criminal history, Montgomery County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Marc Long convicted Collins on the conspiracy charge and on charges of bringing a gun onto school property and possession of a firearm by someone under 18.
 
Long sentenced him to an indefinite term in the Department of Juvenile Justice, calling him "worse than a terrorist" and "a danger to the public."
 
Long said that in more than two years on the bench, he has never sentenced anyone to DJJ.
 
McCroskey, on the other hand, was given a suspended term in detention and a suspended DJJ sentence. In the three months he has spent at the New River detention center, he has earned straight A's and caused no trouble, according to staff reports that were presented in court.
 
McCroskey contends that he knew Collins had talked about bringing a gun to school but didn't expect Collins to do it.
 
McCroskey also was ordered to perform 250 hours of community service and to an indefinite term of probation.