Taiwanese exchange student Sun An-tso (孫安佐), who pleaded guilty to making terrorist threats against the Catholic high school he was attending in Pennsylvania has now been hit with federal firearms charges, US federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Sun, 18, was charged in a federal criminal complaint issued on Tuesday with possessing ammunition while in the US on a non-immigrant visa, a spokesman for the US Department of Justice said in a statement.
Sun was earlier this week sentenced to between four and 23 months in jail followed by deportation after pleading guilty in Delaware County District Court to making terrorist threats.
He plead guilty to making threats as part of an open plea agreement with Pennsylvania state prosecutors in exchange for dropping the charge of possessing an instrument of crime in the hope of facilitating his deportation.
He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted on the federal charges.
State prosecutors said that Sun, who was living with a US host family while studying at a high school in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, told another student in March that he should stay home on May 1 because “I’m going to come here armed and shoot up the school. Just kidding.”
Sun’s classmate, who has not been identified by authorities, reported the remark to school officials, who notified the Upper Darby Police Department.
Investigators recovered a semiautomatic pistol, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, a crossbow and ballistic suit from Sun’s bedroom, as well as a duffel bag of his belongings given by his host mother to an attorney she retained for him.
“Thanks to the tremendous work of our local, state and federal partners, a potential school tragedy was prevented,” said Marlon Miller, a special agent in charge of the US Department of Homeland Security Investigations Philadelphia Field Office.
Sun is the only child of Taiwanese opera and television actress Di Ying (狄鶯) and actor Sun Peng (孫鵬). He has been held in custody since his arrest on March 26.
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