Ohio man accused in school plot gets plea deal

CLEVELAND (AP) — The case against a man accused of plotting a Columbine-style attack on an Indiana school began with comments he made on MySpace.com, but the chats were nothing more than fantasy, his attorney said Tuesday.

Lee Billi, 34, of Lakewood, reached a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty on a lesser charge of inciting to violence.

The deal avoided a trial, which was to have started Tuesday.

In return, prosecutors dropped a charge of conspiracy to commit murder. Billi also pleaded guilty to 38 child pornography charges and one count of possessing criminal tools — his personal computer.

He faces a maximum 310 years in prison when sentenced March 25.

Authorities had said Billi exchanged e-mails last April with an Indiana teenager to discuss simultaneous mass murders at the teen’s high school and at another location police haven’t identified.

A 16-year-old in South Bend, Ind., pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit murder for plotting to attack Penn High School near Mishawaka.

He was placed in juvenile detention indefinitely.

The teen told the court he never intended to carry out the plot. He also apologized and said he did not know the Ohio man with whom he had communicated.