El Paso prep school tech director sent to prison for bomb hoax - The Denver Post

A man who enlisted his 16-year-old son in a plot to ignite a smoke bomb in the cafeteria of a posh El Paso County boarding school was sentenced Thursday to 2½ years in prison — six months shy of the maximum he faced under a plea deal.

Courtesy of The Gazette

Bryan S. Bolding

Bryan S. Bolding, the former director of technology at the Fountain Valley School south of Colorado Springs, wiped at tears as 4th Judicial District Judge Scott Sells rejected his attorney’s plea for probation.

Bolding, 46, pleaded guilty in September to a single count of menacing, in exchange for prosecutors agreeing to dismiss charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor — a misdemeanor — and two felonies alleging a hoax involving an explosive device.

Roughly 300 people were evacuated from Fountain Valley campus on May 16 after a cafeteria worker interrupted the plot before the smoke bomb went off. A SWAT team and bomb squad were summoned to sweep school grounds and render the device safe — part of a response that drew as many as 100 law enforcement officers, Head of School William Webb said.

Bolding’s teenage son, at the time a student, was also arrested. He is on track for a February trial in juvenile court on allegations that he was allegedly seen trying to ignite the device with a remote detonator during the episode.

To read more of this story go to gazette.com

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