Woman who pleaded no contest in school threat case now asks judge for a trial

A Lansdale mother, who recently issued a no contest plea on charges she threatened to “shoot up” North Penn High School and was given six years of probation, has filed a petition to withdraw her plea and schedule her for trial instead, because she did not understand the full implications of her plea agreement, due to confusion and Asperger’s.

Cieria Alexis Wynder, 33, of the 400 block of East Main Street, acting as her own attorney, has asked the same Montgomery County Common Pleas judge that threatened her with state prison time for one more mistake to vacate her probationary sentence of six years of probation, 80 hours of community service, and anger management counseling, according to The Mercury, and set a trial date.

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.

According to the report, Wynder claimed “Six years for something I didn’t do?” as she left the courtroom following her probationary sentencing.

Per The Mercury, Wynder, a single mother to two teenagers, wrote in her petition to Judge Thomas DelRicci that she “did not fully grasp the implications of pleading open/nolo contendre and therefore could not make an informed and voluntary decision. Had defendant understood the true nature and consequences of the plea, defendant would not have pled open/nolo contendre 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.

According to the report, if DelRicci schedules a hearing on the request, then prosecuting Assistant District Attorney Jediah Grobstein, would weigh in on it.

Should Wynder head to trial, the terrorism charges carry a maximum 7 years in prison, per offense.

At her sentencing, 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, Wynder created fear among the school community.

Wynder 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, and summary disorderly conduct, for an incident that occurred the morning of April 1 at the school at 1340 Valley Forge Road.

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 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.