R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Hugo Barrera, Special Agent in Charge, United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Miami Field Division, announced today the indictment and arrest of defendant Sharocka Sanford. Today’s charges stem from Sanford’s false report that a bomb had been planted in a UPS package bound for New York. The Indictment, which was returned on September 11, 2008, by a federal grand jury sitting in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, charges Sanford with one count of making a false bomb threat, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 844(e).
If convicted on this charge, the defendant faces a maximum statutory term of ten (10) years imprisonment, up to three (3) years of supervised release, and up to a $250,000 fine.
According to the Indictment, on September 5, 2008, Sanford telephoned the United Parcel Service (UPS) and stated that a package she had mailed to New York contained a pipe bomb, and that if the recipient opened the box, it would blow the recipient’s head off. Based on this threat, UPS tracked the package in route, and ultimately located it within a freight train that was stopped by federal and local authorities in New Jersey. The package was ultimately detonated by the local bomb squad, and it was determined that the package contained electronics and clothing. Later that day, Sanford confessed that she had fabricated the story regarding the bomb to force UPS to intercept and recover the package before it had been delivered to its intended recipient.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, as well as the Lauderhill Police Department, the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department, the North Bergen (New Jersey) Police and Fire Departments, the New Jersey State Police, the Jersey City Police Department Bomb Squad, the Nassau County Police Department, the CSX Railroad Police, the Hempstead, New York Police Department, investigators within the United Parcel Service, and other task force members within the Joint Terrorism Task Force. This case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Marc Anton.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/ or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov/.
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