Okay, this is scary on a few levels.
http://www.military.com/news/article/man-sentenced-to-join-military-after-threat.html?ESRC=topstories.RSS
A judge sentenced a former Faulkner University student to join the military and perform community service for a post he made on Facebook that led to a campus lockdown.
Zachary Lambert, 23, agreed to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge of harassing communications for a message that made reference to a deadly campus attack at Virginia Tech in 2007.
Lambert originally was charged with making a terrorist threat, a felony, and placed in jail on $500,000 bond.
Montgomery County Circuit Judge Tracy McCooey handed down a suspended three-month sentence and two years of probation.
McCooey told Lambert that he must join the military as a condition of his probation.
"You are going into the military. That is not a choice," she said.
Lambert also must perform 50 hours of community service, talking to schoolchildren about the consequences of what they say online. McCooey said she would accompany him for the appearances.
Faulkner was locked down for about 45 minutes in December after someone alerted officials to the post, in which Lambert seemed to be promising to break "Cho's record." Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and injured 25 others in the campus shooting.
Both sides said they were pleased with the resolution of the case.
"I'd say it's an appropriate outcome," said Lambert's attorney, Bill Blanchard.
Deputy District Attorney Scott Green said McCooey's terms were appropriately strict. "This is a serious set of events, and it needs to be taken seriously," Green said.
Lambert said he had talked to an Army recruiter who seemed to think he had a good chance of being able to enlist.
Army recruiter Sgt. Michael Johnson, an Army recruiter in Montgomery, said Lambert can't join the military while he's on probation. Johnson said that in order to join the military, Lambert would have to come off probation and meet all other requirements for enlisting. Having a misdemeanor on his record would not necessarily disqualify him, Johnson said.
McCooey said that if Lambert's probation is an obstacle to joining the military, it could be adjusted, as long as Lambert shows a "good faith effort" that he is trying to join.
McCooey also talked about her own life growing up as "a military brat" and how important military service was to her father.
"Military is a good, good thing for you," she told Lambert.
Lambert also will have to provide a written apology to Faulkner and the community as a whole.
