Cieria Wynder's mugshot from a 2020 arrest (Credit: Upper Gwynedd Police)
Court filings argue the defendant fully understood her plea in North Penn High School threat case, as the judge weighs whether to hold a hearing
Montgomery County prosecutors pushed back this week against a Lansdale woman’s attempt to undo her no-contest plea in a case involving threats to “shoot up” North Penn High School, arguing she fully understood the plea when she entered it.
According to The Mercury, in a recent written response, Assistant District Attorney Jediah Grobstein told the court that Cieria Alexis Wynder gave both written and verbal assurances during her colloquy that she had no impairments affecting her comprehension and knowingly waived her trial rights.
Prosecutors claimed her bid to withdraw the plea reflected dissatisfaction with the sentence, not confusion about the process, per the report.
Wynder, 33, pleaded no contest in November to charges including terroristic threats, harassment and disorderly conduct stemming from the April 1, 2025, disturbance at the high school. She was originally charged in April 2025 by Towamencin Township Police with felony terroristic threats causing a serious public inconvenience and misdemeanor charges of terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another person and harassment and disorderly conduct.
She was sentenced to six years of probation, 80 hours of community service and anger-management counseling, a term she visibly struggled with as she left the courtroom, claiming, "Six years for something I didn’t do?”
A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but is an admission that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to convict her of the charges at a trial. A no contest plea is considered a conviction under state law.
Days later, she petitioned Judge Thomas DelRicci to vacate the sentence and schedule a trial, maintaining she did not fully appreciate the consequences of her plea, citing miscommunication with her former attorney and difficulty processing information due to Asperger’s or Autism Spectrum Disorder.
In her filing, Wynder argued the plea was not knowing or voluntary, but prosecutors countered that she never mentioned any medical condition, autism or otherwise, during the colloquy and affirmed her understanding on every page she initialed, according to the article.
Grobstein pointed out that DelRicci questioned her extensively before accepting the plea, and that her current claims contradict the record. According to the report, it remained unclear whether DelRicci would hold a hearing before issuing a ruling on the request.
If the plea is withdrawn and the case proceeds to trial, Wynder would face a possible maximum sentence of three and a half to seven years in prison on the lead terroristic threats charge, The Mercury reported.
Per The Mercury, Wynder, a single mother to two teenagers, wrote in her petition to DelRicci that had she "understood the true nature and consequences of the plea," then she would not have plead to no contest "and would have insisted on exercising the constitutional right to proceed to trial."
In the petition, she claimed her former attorney Francis Walsh miscommunicated with her over the case, and it led to emotional distress and pressure.
At her sentencing last month, according to The Mercury, DelRicci warned Wynder that if she violates her latest sentence in any way, she faces state prison.
“You’ve run out of chances. You cannot have any more criminal activity,” DelRicci said.
According to testimony at the sentencing, Wynder created fear among the school community.
Back in 2022, Wynder was sentenced to one year probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor criminal mischief for pointing a gun in a friend's face and then smashing up a friend's vehicle with a bat after the two got into an argument over a social media post in Upper Gwynedd.
“When things don’t go the way you want them to, you react,” DelRicci told Wynder at her conviction, according to The Mercury. “You have to accept the fact you have to change. You can’t keep acting the way you’ve been acting. You need to make better decisions.”
Wynder’s community service period was given, according to The Mercury, “to make up for the trauma and serious public inconvenience she caused at the school.”
“Overall, it was nerve-wracking in the moment. The next couple of days, the kids were tense. The kids were a little bit more on edge,” Assistant Principal Megan Schoppe testified, according to the report. “It really surprised me to hear a statement like that. I was scared.”
Brandon Rhone, coordinator for emergency management at the school, testified last month the lockout prevented anyone from leaving or entering the school, which caused alarm for parents, as the lockout lasted around 45 minutes.
“Please accept my appreciation for what you did that day and every day for keeping our kids safe. God’s work. I appreciate it,” DelRicci addressed Schoppe and Rhone, according to The Mercury.
According to reports, in her 2022 conviction, Wynder had to forfeit her gun and complete an anger management counseling program.
“I guess it didn’t work well,” said DelRicci, according to reports. “She hears what she wants to hear and she reacts. She reacts first, that’s the problem.”
Police were dispatched to the high school at 11:16 a.m. on April 1 for a report of a female parent causing a disturbance at the front concourse of the school, according to the affidavit. The concourse is a large open area that leads to classrooms and main offices at the school.
While police were en route, Montgomery County dispatch advised police that the woman had made threats to shoot up the school.
Upon arrival, police met with security, who could not confirm if the woman, identified as Wynder, left school property. After a canvass of the school, it was determined Wynder had left the premises, police said.
Security officers relayed to police that, prior to their arrival, they were in the concourse area with another principal, when Wynder came out of the front office yelling and screaming. She was visibly upset, police said, and attempted to walk down a hallway, further into the school, but was stopped by security.
Security and school officials attempted to talk to Wynder about what she was upset about, but they were unsuccessful in de-escalating the situation, and she continued to yell and scream in the presence of students and staff, police said.
Wynder was told to leave school property, and she complied, police said.
While exiting, three staff members heard Wynder say she was going to “come back and shoot up the school.”
Wynder was walking to the parking lot, and staff members heard her say a second time, “I am coming back to shoot up this school.”
Security was so alarmed by Wynder’s statements that they called 911, according to the complaint.
Due to Wynder’s actions, administration placed the school into a lockout status at 11:28 a.m., preventing movement to and from classrooms, police said.
The lockout was lifted at 12:06 p.m. once it was confirmed that Wynder was at her home, police said.
Wynder, who is a caretaker to her mother, saved taxpayers money by pleading no contest, according to her attorney.
Grobstein praised the school’s response to Wynder’s threats.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
