Ameen Keshavjee, Anthrax Hoax Threat, New York 2019

Ameen Keshavjee, 37, Arrested for Mailing Anthrax Hoax Threat in Manhattan

Ameen Keshavjee, a Manhattan man, has been arrested for allegedly mailing a white powdery substance with an anthrax note to an employee at a bar in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan.

According to the allegations in the Complaint unsealed in Manhattan federal court, Keshavjee was a patron at the bar and sent a series of threatening communications via e-mail to an employee. The employee told Keshavjee that if he continued sending messages, he would no longer be welcome at the bar. However, Keshavjee began sending threatening e-mails and eventually mailed an envelope containing a white powdery substance and a note indicating that the substance was anthrax on December 9, 2019.

The City of New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Public Health Laboratory later concluded that the materials did not contain anthrax. Keshavjee is charged with one count of mailing a threatening communication and one count of conveying an anthrax hoax threat, each of which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman praised the outstanding work of the FBI, the USPIS, and the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which consists principally of agents from the FBI and detectives from the New York City Police Department.

Keshavjee was presented today in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman.

Defendant: Ameen Keshavjee

Criminal Charges: Mailing a threatening communication and conveying an anthrax hoax threat

City and State: New York

Exact Date: December 9, 2019

Sentence or Outcome: Currently pending

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-man-arrested-mailing-hoax-anthrax-threat