Former Southern Utah University art lecturer Steven Charles Baggs, 47, pleaded guilty following his threats of shooting people on campus. He also threatened campus employees, a prosecutor, officers and the Cedar City community as a whole.
Baggs now faces:
— A one- to 15-year prison sentence for the threat of terrorism to influence the government and the threat of terrorism with a weapon, both second-degree felonies.
— Zero to five years for possession of a firearm as a restricted person and theft by extortion, which are third-degree felonies.
— Charges for a one-year violation of a protective order and assault on a peace officer, both class A misdemeanors.
— Up to six months of prison time for two counts of threat of violence, a class B misdemeanor.
All of these charges led Fifth District Judge Matthew Bell to settle on a four- to 43-year prison sentence.
What led to Baggs’ sentence
In September, Baggs took accountability for his Dec. 12, 2022, call to SUU’s human resources department. During the call, Baggs stated that he “could kill 30 students at SUU” but during his trial said that they were innocent and he wouldn’t do that.
This all materialized after the university did not give Baggs a tenure track position or pay for his doctorate degree upon his request. He was only hired as a temporary employee at SUU.
Baggs made direct threats to his arresting officer and a prosecutor who had been handling his case for Cedar City. According to Baggs’ plea statements, he sent an email to the prosecutor’s wife, saying her husband “decided to endanger their entire family for pursuing a case of lies and that they will all die.” He made similar threats to his boss at SUU and said that he threatened other SUU employees. Baggs also admitted that he texted his boss at SUU to name a drawing lab after him while threatening to kill him and his family if he did not comply. Along with threats made to the prosecutor, Baggs also threatened multiple public officials.
After making threats to SUU and the Cedar City community, Baggs tried to flee. He went back to his home state of Oregon first. Investigators then received information that he was in Hawaii and trying to escape to Japan. He was extradited and booked into the Iron County Jail in Cedar City on June 8.
The charges that Baggs pleaded guilty to include a class B misdemeanor due to threatening violence, which is a second-degree felony, and threatening terrorism. Another case of charges was threatening terrorism with intent to influence the prosecutor’s office, which is a second-degree felony, and the class A misdemeanor of threatening a police officer. Baggs pleaded guilty to those charges as well.
Investigators found that Baggs was guilty of purchasing, possessing or using a firearm as a restricted person, which is a third-degree felony. In a third case, he pleaded guilty to those charges and a class A misdemeanor for violating a protective order.
Many charges were dismissed in all three cases because of Baggs’ plea deal. That includes four counts of threatening to influence an official action, five counts of violating a protective order and two counts of assaulting a peace officer and all class A misdemeanors. In addition, charges of criminal mischief, a third-degree felony, and threatening terrorism, a second-degree felony, were dropped.
Author: Chevy Blackburn
Photo courtesy of SUU
news@suunews.net