ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – A 22-year-old man, formerly of Maine, pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in St. Paul to making bomb threats at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and at the Mall of America.
Dana William Ashey pleaded guilty to one count of false information and hoaxes.
Ashey was indicted on May 13, 2013, and admitted that on April 12, 2013, he threatened that bombs had been planted at both the airport and at the MOA.
Police received the initial threat at 2:37 a.m. on April 12 with a warning that a bomb placed in a restroom would go off by 3 a.m.
At 2:42 a.m. that same day, another bomb threat was phoned in to security dispatch for the MOA. The caller said that the bomb had been placed in a restroom.
A search of the mall yielded no bomb.
Later that day at 2:17 p.m. the mall’s switchboard operator received yet another bomb threat. Authorities traced the call and found Ashey still inside the MOA.
