Student Pranksters Plead Guilty

Student pranksters plead guilty
Because of a “dumb prank,” two University of Michigan students ended up pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of "illegal entry without owner's permission” in a Monday afternoon appearance before 15th District Court Judge S.J. Elden in Ann Arbor. Richard Thomas Baron, a liberal arts senior from the Bronx, and Katherine Renfrew, a liberal arts junior from Sarasota, Fla., had written “Ha, Ha, we broke into your school" on the blackboard of a portable classroom at Pioneer High School, according to arresting officers who had been alerted by a janitor at 2 a.m. last Wednesday. “They talked about the pressure of term papers and exams and of wanting to do something like a kid again," said Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecutor David King. “Nothing was taken, so I authorized the charges as misdemeanors. Both students waived the appointment of attorneys. Elden scheduled their sentencing for May 6