A Harvard University student was charged by U.S. prosecutors with e-mailing bomb threats that spurred the evacuation of four of the school’s buildings during final exams.
Eldo Kim, 20, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is charged with a single count of making a bomb hoax, a crime punishable by as long as five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said today in a statement.
Kim’s initial court appearance is set for tomorrow before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith Dein in Boston. He will be represented by a federal public defender, a spokeswoman for Ortiz, Christina Sterling, said in an e-mailed message.
At about 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 16, the university police, two officials of the school and the president of the Harvard Crimson daily student newspaper got identical e-mails with a subject line that read “bombs placed around campus,” according to a sworn statement by Special Agent Thomas M. Dalton of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Kim was interviewed by the FBI and by a Harvard police officer yesterday, Dalton said. He waived his constitutional right to have an attorney present and admitted to writing the e- mailed threats, according to the FBI agent.
“According to Kim, he was motivated by a desire to avoid a final exam,” Dalton said.
Prosecutors provided Dalton’s affidavit. It couldn’t be located on the Massachusetts federal court’s electronic docket.
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