A 47-year-old former Con-way Freight driver has pleaded guilty to making false bomb threats on Con-way’s Facebook wall.
On Monday, April 15, at approximately 6:16 p.m. EDT–just hours after the Boston Marathon bombings– an employee at the Con-way Freight corporate office in Michigan received notification of a message on the company’s Facebook wall.
The employee checked the company’s Facebook wall and saw that a Facebook user by the name of “Maggie Ladenn” had posted a threatening message on the carrier’s page stating, “HEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TOOK CARE OF THE BOSTON MARATHONAND NOW I TAKE CARE OF CONWAY IN MICHIGAN AND LASALLE.”
A second message from the same user was posted at 7:53 p.m., stating, ”ere a bomb at one of your facilities, have fun finding it.”
Con-way notified the police of the threats. Police searched the buildings but did not find any explosives.
Con-way then notified the FBI of the threats. The FBI obtained information from Facebook relating to the user “Maggie Ladenn.” They learned the account for “Maggie Ladenn” had been created at 6:14 p.m., the same day the threats were made, MyWebTimes reported.
FBI found that the messages had been sent from 2 separate I.P. addresses but that they were registered to the same AT&T user. Investigators traced the I.P. addresses to 47-year-old Con-way contract employee Rodney J. Termini.
Yesterday, Termini pleaded guilty to making false bomb threats before U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain.
“We treat all threats seriously, even hoaxes, because they divert law enforcement resources from other public safety needs. Anyone who communicates a threat to kill or injure others can expect serious criminal consequences,” U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said.
Administrators at Con-way said the hoax cost the company approximately $46,000, because the company was forced to re-route and detour trucks– effectively shutting down the terminal for the duration of the search for bombs.
Termini will be sentenced in November. He faces up to 18 months in prison.
According to MyWebTimes, Termini has been arrested twice for similar crimes in the past. Termini was charged with mailing threatening communications in 1996. He was sentenced to 5 months of house arrest and three years of probation. In 1992, Termini was charged with making false bomb threats.