Prosecutors say Joshua Lowe made the threat because he was upset that his girlfriend and her family went on the cruise and left him behind to take care of their pets. He says he’s sorry.
A Michigan man has been sentenced to eight months in prison after making a false bomb threat against a cruise his girlfriend was on without him.
A federal judge sentenced Joshua Lowe, 19, on Monday for making the threat because he was “upset that the family went on the cruise, while leaving him behind to care for their pets,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler said in court records obtained by USA TODAY.
U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a news release in September that there was “zero tolerance” for bomb threats.
“Hoaxes can endanger lives, incur needless costs, and divert public safety resources needed to address real threats,” he said. “We take every threat of mass violence seriously.”
Lowe, who is from Bailey, Michigan, pleaded guilty to one count of false information and hoaxes.
In a letter addressed to U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney, Lowe apologized and said he was pursuing “a path to Jesus and God.”
“This is all my fault and (I) take full responsibility,” Lowe said. “It should have never happened. I want you to know that after all this, I have learned how to be more responsible, and learn from my mistakes.”A false threat
According to court records, Carnival Cruise Lines got an email saying a bomb could be located inside the company’s “Sunrise” cruise ship.
“Hey, I think someone might have a bomb on your sunrise cruise ship,” Lowe wrote anonymously at the time.
After receiving the email, Carnival diverted the ship, which had departed from Miami, to Jamaica. Prosecutors said the email sent by Lowe prompted the crew to perform a search of more than 1,100 rooms for a bomb that did not exist.Court documents said that FBI agents traced the email back to Lowe, who at the time lived with his girlfriend’s family. Once confronted by authorities, Lowe admitted to having sent the email because he was upset that the family left him behind to take care of their pets, prosecutors said.
“Bomb threats are not a laughing matter and are extremely irresponsible,” Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan, said in a statement.
