Written by Wealthy McKay
(Reuters) – Authorities in Peru mentioned on Thursday that they had arrested a person suspected of creating a wave of bomb threats towards U.S. colleges, synagogues, hospitals and airports, which led to evacuations, flight delays and different disruptions in 5 states this month.
Eddie Manuel Nunez Santos, 33, of Lima, Peru, is accused of creating 150 bomb threats, a few of which had been directed at Jewish establishments over the Rosh Hashanah vacation, the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York mentioned in a information launch.
She added that each one the threats proved to be a hoax. A Ministry of Justice spokesman mentioned his motive in some instances was to persuade younger individuals to ship him sexually express images, in any other case he would set off the bombs.
It was not instantly recognized whether or not Nunez Santos, who faces extradition to the USA underneath a federal indictment in New York Metropolis, has but obtained authorized illustration.
The alleged threats, conveyed by way of electronic mail, had been directed at alleged targets in New York Metropolis in addition to in Alaska, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Arizona, officers mentioned within the information launch.
One risk cited by prosecutors for instance learn: “I’ve positioned a number of bombs in all the faculties in your faculty districts. The bombs will explode in a number of hours. I’ll smile with pleasure when your households cry over your dying.”
The authorities mentioned that this message led to the evacuation of 1,100 college students from 20 colleges in Pennsylvania.
The alleged threats “induced speedy mobilization by federal and state authorities, diverted crucial legislation enforcement and public security sources, and induced concern in a whole bunch of communities throughout this nation,” U.S. Lawyer Damian Williams mentioned within the assertion.
The eight-page indictment expenses Nunez-Santos with two felony counts associated to the letters he’s accused of sending to a number of recipients in New York – making threatening interstate communications and committing a hoax. Every of them carries a most penalty of 5 years in jail.
He was additionally charged with tried sexual exploitation of a kid, tried coercion and enticement of a minor, and tried receipt of kid pornography. The fees, for which he may resist 30 years in jail if convicted, stem from his alleged try to influence a 15-year-old woman in Westchester, New York, to ship him sexually express images.
The investigation was supervised by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Job Power in New York. Authorities tracked Nunez Santos via his on-line and telephone communications, the information launch mentioned.
(Reporting by Wealthy McKay in Atlanta; Modifying by Steve Gorman)