A Cygnet man was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty in connection to sending
a threatening letter to North Baltimore schools last fall.
Dwight Bower, 57, appeared before Judge Robert Pollex.
He had reportedly sent "an anonymous letter with a non-specific threat" received by North
Baltimore schools on Oct. 3, 2013. A forensic examination of the letter led authorities to Bower later
that month, and he was arrested without incident.
There was heightened police presence at the village schools following the incident, but schools were not
closed and ran as scheduled. The district has security systems in place, as well as a school resource
officer.
Bower pleaded guilty in April to a single count of inducing panic, a second-degree felony.
However, in two hand-written documents filed by himself in May, Bower had sought to withdraw his plea and
to drop his counsel, William Stephenson.
Bower argued in the documents he had been led to believe the second-degree felony count would carry a
9-month sentence, not two years. He also said he had believed that "some mental health help"
would be included in a plea agreement.