Karry Max Taylor, Hoax Bomb Threat, South Carolina 2016

CRIME SPREE

Columbia, South Carolina – In a shocking display of disregard for public safety, Karry Max Taylor, III, a 21-year-old from Columbia, has been sentenced for making a hoax bomb threat.

According to federal court records, Taylor was charged with violating Title 18, United States Code, Section 1038(a), which prohibits making hoax bomb threats. Senior United States District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie handed down the sentence of 12 months and 1 day imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release.

Taylor was also ordered to make restitution to the Columbia Fire Department and the Columbia Police Department in the total amount of $1,487.77 to cover the cost of their response to the hoax bomb threat. Additionally, he must pay a $100 special assessment fee to the court.

On January 4, 2016, three individuals received text messages from an unknown South Carolina telephone number advising them that someone had placed a bomb in the parking lot of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Garners Ferry Road. The texts were later linked back to Taylor’s cellular telephone and email account through investigative means.

As a result of the hoax, the Columbia Police Department, the Columbia Fire Department, and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center Police Department responded, placing the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in lock-down and sweeping the parking area for explosives. Law enforcement were on the scene for three hours before determining that the texts were a hoax.

Assistant United States Attorney Stacey D. Haynes handled the case, which was investigated by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in Columbia. Taylor, a volunteer with the Columbia Fire Department, admitted to sending the texts to random numbers in an effort to draw other fire engines to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

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