Lansing - Four students involved in the March 28-30 disturbances plead guilty in Ingham County's 30th Judicial Circuit Court on Tuesday afternoon.
Students Brian Balamucki, Kimberly Martin, Timothy Ricker and Tony Warren were convicted of felonies and misdemeanors before Judge James Giddings.
The maximum penalty for a felony is five years in jail and a $10,000 fine. The maximum penalty for a misdemeanor is up to a 93-day jail sentence and a $500 fine. The disturbances the students were charged with followed the MSU men's basketball team Elite Eight loss in the NCAA Tournament. About 2,000 people flooded the streets of East Lansing during the March 30 riot causing about $40,000 in damage to campus and the city.
Sentencing dates for students have been set for late August.
The students were convicted of charges that ranged from unlawful assembly and malicious destruction of property to preparation to burn.
Ingham County Prosecutor Michael Cheltenham suggested to the judge that the students' sentencing should be to pay restitution for damages they incurred during the riot, apologize in a public forum and be placed on probation.
But Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said he couldn't say for certain the students would be given jail time, and any punishments will be uniform like March 27-28, 1999 rioters received.
"Anybody that plead guilty to felonies served time in jail," Dunning said.
Dunnings was present in court to make sure policies regarding expulsion from Michigan universities were addressed properly. The students convicted face being barred from all college campuses in Michigan for one to two years for their crimes.
These polices were created after the March 27-28, 1999 riot that followed the MSU men's basketball loss in the Final Four. The rules allow a judge to ban people convicted of offenses related to a riot, unlawful assembly or civil disorder from coming within 2,500 feet of any public Michigan college campus.
Martin, one of the four students, was convicted of a unlawful assembly and malicious destruction of property for flipping over three Pepsi Cola vending machines near the Main Library, resulting in $2,749 in damage.
"If there is a poster child for the person who was the worst of the rioters, she's it," Dunnings said. "She did it, but then bragged about what she did on the Internet."
Martin told the court she urged people to push over the machines with chants of, "Tip it, tip it."
Balamucki, convicted of unlawful assembly and malicious destruction of property, was involved in tipping over a 1996 Dodge Neon owned by theater junior Alexis Cain near the Auditorium on March 30. The damage to the car is estimated at $3,570.
"We were rocking it until it flipped over," Balamucki said to Giddings about the incident.
Ricker and Warren were both convicted of unlawful assembly and preparation to burn.
The two students threw newspaper into the fire, and Ricker also jumped over the flames.
"You were exercising incredibly bad judgment," Giddings said about Ricker's involvement in the disturbances.
Warren called his throwing newspaper into the fire a rebellious act.
Giddings decided to allow Warren to be released from house arrest and the use of an electronic tracking device, which was a condition of his bond.
Miguel Miranda, also involved in the disturbances, plead guilty last week and were given the same suggestion for punishment from Ingham Country prosecution as the other students were given. Daniel Callton and Ian Bailey who also are being charged, have yet to plead in court.
