VALDOSTA – A former Valdosta State University student charged with bringing a firearm on campus has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in August.

Eric Sheppard pleaded guilty on May 31 to one count of carrying a weapon in a school safety zone, reports the Valdosta Daily Times.

In April 2015, VSU police discovered a handgun in a book bag left on campus following a demonstration in which Sheppard attended.

Investigators later linked the gun to Sheppard through a purchase receipt from a pawn shop, according to police reports.

Sheppard was part of a group which held several protests in which an American flag was placed on the ground and repeatedly walked on. The protests gained national attention after Air Force Veteran and former Playboy model Michelle Manhart was briefly detained but not arrested by campus police for taking the protesters’ flag during a demonstration.

Sheppard eluded police for a month and was arrested in Miami, Fla. in May 2015. He was granted bond under the condition that he remain at his mother’s house in Cobb County with an ankle monitor and that he does not participate in social media use.