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Man Pleads Guilty to Threatening Statue of Liberty
A 42-year-old man has pleaded guilty to threatening to blow up the iconic Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, leading to the evacuation of over 3,200 people from Liberty Island.
JASON PAUL SMITH, identified by authorities as the culprit behind the April 24, 2015, 911 call, made a one-count guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick in Manhattan federal court.
According to the indictment, SMITH, who allegedly used a service that assists hearing-impaired individuals with making and receiving telephone calls, identified himself as ‘Abdul Yasin’ and described himself as an ‘ISI terrorist’ in the 911 call.
Law enforcement officers responded to the threat, conducting a sweep of the areas in and around the Statue of Liberty and Liberty Island with the aid of canine units trained to detect explosives.
Canine units alerted in the vicinity of the visitor lockers at the base of the Statue of Liberty, prompting law enforcement officers and emergency responders to evacuate the over 3,200 people who were on Liberty Island at the time.
Later, the threat conveyed by SMITH was determined to be unfounded.
SMITH is scheduled to be sentenced on September 6, 2016, at 11:00 a.m., before Judge Broderick and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for conveying false and misleading information and hoaxes.
Mr. Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (‘FBI’) New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which principally consists of agents from the FBI and detectives from the New York City Police Department.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorney David Zhou in charge of the prosecution.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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