Man who threatened to kill four UNC students pleads guilty

Reid Benjamin Kelley, 22, pleaded guilty to a charge of interference with commerce by threats and violence, in connection with the Aug. 26 crime. His sentencing is scheduled for April 18, when a federal judge could sentence him to up to 20 years in prison.

Authorities arrested Kelley on Aug. 27, a day after a BB&T employee found a typewritten note demanding that $300,000 be left behind a trash bin at the Foxcroft Apartments in Chapel Hill. The note also said four University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students would be killed if he did not receive the cash.

Investigators identified Kelley through the bank's security video, set up surveillance on him and arrested him after he picked up a bag that FBI agents left for him behind the trash bin, according to court documents.

At Kelley's home, investigators found the clothes he was wearing in the bank video, multiple weapons, including an M-4-type rifle, ammunition, body armor and ceramic plates for body armor.