Lance Giovanni Fontenot, Malicious Conveying False Information, Texas 2016

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Terroristic Threat Rocks Beaumont Refinery

A 23-year-old Beaumont man has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for making a terroristic threat against the ExxonMobil refinery in Beaumont, Texas.

Lance Giovanni Fontenot, 23, pleaded guilty on September 15, 2016, to maliciously conveying false information about explosive material and was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison on [current date] by U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone.

According to information presented in court, on June 15, 2016, Fontenot placed a telephone call to the ExxonMobil refinery located at 1795 Burt Street in Beaumont, Texas and claimed that explosive devices were set to detonate at packages placed around the exterior of the facility at a specific time that day.

In the call, Fontenot stated that a specific employee working at the plant had worked with a family member to place the explosives around the property, and Fontenot told the employee of the plant who answered the call that the employee responsible had ties to a terrorist organization identified by Fontenot as ‘ISIS.’

Law enforcement agencies immediately responded to the scene, and once the threat was identified as false, began to focus on identifying the caller who made the threat. Within hours, investigators identified Fontenot, who had recently been in a romantic relationship with the employee that the defendant claimed was responsible for placing the explosives around the plant.

Fontenot was also ordered to pay restitution to ExxonMobil in the amount of $372,691.79, which was the cost to the refinery for shutting down the pipeline. The case was investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force including agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Beaumont Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Services, and the Port Arthur Police Department.

This case serves as a reminder of the severe consequences of making false terroristic threats. Fontenot’s actions not only put the lives of innocent individuals at risk, but also caused significant financial loss to the ExxonMobil refinery. We hope that this sentence sends a strong message to those who would engage in such behavior.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Woods. We would like to thank the law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation for their tireless efforts in bringing this case to justice.