The former Warren County High School custodian who caused pandemonium when she faked a bomb threat at the facility will not face any jail time but will instead by confined on house arrest.
The woman, Marlene Madewell, 54, was issued the sentence by Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley. She entered a guilty plea this past May to the felony count of filing a false report and appeared before the court for sentencing hearing this past week. Madewell had asked for a judicial diversion, meaning her criminal record would be erased at the end of her sentence, but the court refused that request, instead saying she would spend 90 days of her three-year sentence on house arrest, with the balance spent on probation. Her house arrest will be monitored by a tracking bracelet she will have to wear.
Madewell’s threat came last year, the day after Warren County High was evacuated and its students bused to the Civic Center for safety due to a bomb threat a student found scribbled on a boy’s room wall inside the school. The writing was faint on the wall and some investigators believe it had been there for a while. However, school officials decided not to risk it and moved to evacuate the school. Nothing was found following a sweep by bomb dogs.
The high school was again evacuated the following day, although this time students remained on school grounds while bomb dogs did their sweep. Again, nothing was found. However, even as the sweep was being conducted, lawmen began zeroing in on Madewell. She had been asked to go look in the bathroom that morning for any writing and came back to report threats had been scrawled on a pair bathroom stalls.
Madewell confessed when confronted about the threats that targeted Principal Jimmy Walker. Madewell, who is reportedly manic-depressive, had issues with her boss leading up to the incident and had taken the opportunity for a bit of revenge.