Joker-Inspired Teens Charged With Conspiracy to Commit Terror
Two recent high school grads arrested for leaving playing cards with threats.
Aug. 18, 2008 — -- When Justin Colby Dirico and Bryan Eugene Stafford, two recent high-school graduates in Pembroke, Va., went to see "The Dark Knight" a few weeks ago, little did they know how the latest Batman movie would alter their lives.
Inspired by Heath Ledger's wicked portrayal of the Joker, who left playing cards at the scenes of his crimes, the two 18-year-olds allegedly wrote threatening messages on cards and left them at a local Wal-Mart and Kmart and under car windshields outside a Dairy Queen and an auto parts store on the weekend of Aug. 9-10, according to local police.
The prank ended up alarming dozens of people who found the cards, landed Dirico and Stafford in jail for a night and led to them being charged with conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The duo were arrested after Pearisburg police Sgt. Richard Gautier got a tip and pulled in Stafford for an interview on Tuesday.
"He confessed to it all, said that it was just a joke, just a prank," Pearisburg police chief J.C. Martin told ABCNews.com. "They were upset about the whole thing."
Both teenagers spent the night at New River Regional Jail and each was released on $5,000 bond the next day, according to prison officials. The Commonwealth Attorney's office is scheduling hearings in the case later this month.
While Dirico and Stafford were charged with conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism by a magistrate in Pearisburg, they were only charged with disorderly conduct in Christiansburg, where cards were found inside the town's Kmart.
Martin defended the more serious charge, citing the degree of public alarm caused in the community.
"The Commonwealth Attorney and the investigator felt that due to the fear instilled through these cards, that would be the appropriate charge," the police chief said.
Martin said one of the cards had "Death" written on it, along with the date 8/15/08, and another was a Joker card with some scribbling on it.
Dirico's grandmother said that he was remorseful about the whole situation. "It was a joke, a practical joke that got out of hand," Joyce Dirico said. "He feels very bad about it."
Dirico and Stafford were not available for comment.
