Teen Accused In Mass-Murder Plot Guilty On Explosives Charge

BATAVIA, IL — A 17-year-old admitted in adult court Thursday to possessing explosives in what Kane County authorities say was a plot set off bombs at Batavia High School and open fire on a crowd of students. Samuel Plenio, of Batavia, also planned to throw pipe bombs and grenades down hallways at the school and “kill at his own discretion” before killing himself, according to a news release from Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon.

Plenio pleaded guilty to a felony count of possessing an explosive or incendiary device. He was sentenced to four years of probation and mandatory mental health treatment at a residential facility, according a news release from Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon. Plenio faced a total of 14 charges, including a terrorism charge that could have led to a life sentence if he was convicted in adult court, prosecutors said in February.

Bomb-Making Teen Faces Life Sentence: Prosecutors

FBI agents searched Plenio’s home in Batavia on Nov. 28, 2019, after receiving a tip that a resident of the city purchased bomb-making materials, the release states. Federal agents found a “working laboratory with numerous chemicals, compounds, laboratory equipment” and other bomb-making materials in Plenio’s home, officials said. Agents also located three metal pipes and end caps, detonators, and projectiles commonly used in bombs, the release states.

The FBI’s search also revealed social media posts written by Plenio that included anti-Semitic material, as well as a notebook that included “numerous statements of hate ideology,” officials said.

Batavia HS Student In Custody After Explosives Found At Home

Plenio has been held at the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center since the FBI searched his home in November, according to officials. He will remain there until entering a residential facility to receive mental health treatment for at least six months, the release states.

Batavia Police Chief Dan Eul thanked local, state and federal law enforcement officials for stopping a potential tragedy at Batavia High School.

“I believe their cooperative efforts and resourcefulness prevented a tragedy that would have made the City of Batavia synonymous with too many other communities that have dealt with the tragic loss of life of young people due to a senseless act of mass violence,” Eul said in the release.

Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon credited the Batavia Police Department and the Kane County Bomb Squad, as well as the “alert person” who contacted authorities about Plenio.

“This is the right outcome for this case as it protects the community and also provides Mr. Plenio with the important help that he needs,” McMahon said in the release.