CHRISTIANSBURG -- Two former Auburn Middle School students were convicted Thursday of conspiracy to commit murder on the school campus -- the latest mix of guns and schools in a county that has dealt with the Virginia Tech shootings and another Blacksburg Middle School incident in the past few months.

The two Auburn teenagers, Jessee Collins, 15, and Dylan McCroskey, 14, were sentenced for their roles in plotting to kill four people, including the principal and school resource officer, with a gun one of them took to school on March 16.

But because of vast differences in their criminal histories, Collins and McCroskey received very different sentences. The names of the two teenagers were made public during an open court hearing Thursday. The Roanoke Times publishes the names of juveniles, 14 and older, who face felony charges during an open court proceeding.

Collins was the boy who took his older brother's Civil War replica .22-caliber revolver and ammunition to school that day in March, according to court testimony.

Then, while being held at the New River Valley Detention Center after his arrest, he reportedly was caught with a shank that he threatened to use on McCroskey, who had cooperated with authorities.

After hearing testimony about the abuse Collins endured as a child and his history of violence that included torturing and killing animals, Montgomery County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Marc Long convicted him on the conspiracy charge and on charges of bringing a gun onto school property and possession of a firearm by someone younger than 18.

Long sentenced him to an indefinite term in the Department of Juvenile Justice, which can keep children until age 21. He called Collins "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 and hopes he doesn't have to do it again.

McCroskey, who has no criminal history, received a suspended sentence. He was ordered to perform 250 hours of community service and to probation indefinitely.

In the three months he has spent at the detention center, McCroskey has earned straight A's and caused no trouble, according to staff reports that were presented in court.

Collins and McCroskey had entered Alford pleas to the charges against them at a hearing in May, allowing them to maintain their innocence while admitting there was enough evidence for a conviction.

McCroskey said Thursday that although Collins had talked about taking a gun to school, he didn't know Collins had done so until he was called to the principal's office.

According to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, a student reported that Collins and McCroskey talked about killing four people: Principal Guylene Wood-Setzer, school resource officer Deputy Kirk Hendricks and at least one student. It is unclear who the fourth person was.

"I think you were more involved than you're telling us," Long told McCroskey. He told McCroskey to think about that as he performed his community service.

McCroskey's attorney, Dave Rhodes, said the Virginia Tech shootings -- which took place exactly a month after Collins and McCroskey were arrested -- had a strong effect on the boy.

Asked if he had anything to say, McCroskey told the judge, "I'm very sorry, your honor, and I wish I would have told somebody, because after what happened at Tech, I see what could have happened at Auburn."

Rhodes argued that McCroskey shouldn't be convicted of the felony charge but given a chance to prove himself.

Long, however, has taken a firm stance on guns in schools.

"Anybody who has anything to do with guns in school is going to get convicted," he said. "I don't want them around guns for a long time."

Monday, Long sentenced former Blacksburg Middle School student Zach Taylor, 14, to six months' detention for trying to sell stolen guns at school.

"Guns at school are just despicable, the horror that can be created with them," Long said Thursday.

The gun that Collins took to Auburn Middle -- a weapon never fired that day -- was a decoration that hung off the fireplace in his brother's home.

The ammunition was kept in a lockbox, according to the brother, Michael Foutz, who has had custody of Collins since Collins was 11.

He said he thinks Collins took some ammunition another time they took the gun shooting.

Foutz testified that he believes his brother was just going to show off the gun and then return it.

"I don't believe that he ever intended to kill anyone," he said.

Foutz testified that Collins has led a hard life. As a young child, Foutz said, Collins had to care for his mother, who used drugs and suffered from mental problems. Collins had to endure and witness a great deal of abuse, did drugs with his parents and once attempted suicide, his brother said.

"It is truly a sad and tragic life that he has led," Commonwealth's Attorney Brad Finch told the court.

However, Finch said, Collins poses a serious risk to society.

Finch noted that Collins' criminal history includes assault and petit larceny charges in 2003, a sexual abuse charge in 2006 and a violation of a court order this year. Collins was ordered to stay away from the girl he was convicted of abusing but, in a separate closed hearing Thursday, Collins was found guilty of inappropriately touching the same girl, Finch said.

According to a social history report that was compiled for Thursday's hearing, Collins has a history of violence toward animals and has been known to tape mirrors to his shoes so he could look up girls' skirts.

Collins' attorney, Angi Morris, said the boy needs intensive treatment to help him resolve the issues "that undoubtedly brought him here today."

"I think the only thing the DJJ is going to teach Jessee is how to be a better criminal," she said.

She suggested Collins be placed in a locked residential facility where he can get the kind of treatment she said he won't be able to get in DJJ.

Long said DJJ seemed to be the only option for Collins.

After sentencing him, Long asked Collins why he had a shank at the detention home.

When Collins said the shank wasn't his, Long shook his head and said: "You just helped me affirm my decision."