Bradley Neil Crowder, 23, of Austin, Texas, pleaded guilty today to a felony terroristic threat charge in Ramsey County District Court. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped a charge of aiding and abetting second-degree assault, which carries a maximum seven years in prison.
Crowder will serve the sentence concurrently with his two-year federal sentence for his role in a plot to make Molotov cocktails and attack police during the convention. In January, he pleaded guilty to possessing an unregistered firearm, which is how federal law defines Molotov cocktails.
Crowder was among three protestors charged with throwing the sign off the Marion Street bridge in St. Paul on Sept. 1, 2008. The sign landed three feet from a Philadelphia police officer who was working the convention.
According to a criminal complaint, police identified the suspects using surveillance photos.
Last month, Christina R. Vana, 20, of Minneapolis, and Karen M. Meissner, 23, of Menomonee Falls, Wis., pleaded guilty to the assault charge. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 10, and the plea agreement includes a 90-day cap on any jail time with the possibility for community service.
Crowder's attorney, Robert D. Sicoli, said today his client has been in custody at Ramsey County Jail awaiting the outcome of the state charge. He acknowledged that federal officials could order Crowder to serve out his sentence at a higher-security federal prison because of the two felony convictions now on his record.
"My client was aware that was a possibility but he wanted to get it over with and he didn't want to plea to second-degree assault because it didn't fit with what he did," Sicoli said.
Crowder's federal sentence is scheduled to run until May 29, 2010, Sicoli said.
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