These days, it seems that nobody likes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). That’s not criminal. But taking steps to do something about it could be. Just ask Morris Whitehead of South Florida.
Whitehead took things too far when he threatened to bomb the Miami IRS building, saying it would “go up in smoke” in two hours. Whitehead allegedly made the call last Monday on April 20, 2015.
Bomb threats are serious business – especially when they involve federal buildings.
This threat was immediately investigated. Cell phone records (doh!) traced the call to a woman who claimed that she loaned her cell phone to a man she knew only as “Rabbit.” Let that sink in for a moment.
A woman gave her phone to a name she knew only by a nickname.
He could have been dialing up North Korea on her dime. Or spending hours on the line with a phone sex operator. Or blowing up her Candy Crush. Or, you know, committing a felony by phoning in a bomb threat.
And as it turns out, Whitehead wasn’t really wedded to the name “Rabbit.” He told the FBI his name was “Squirrel” and allegedly immediately confessed to making the bomb threat.
(Sadly, there is no “Moose” link in this story but I couldn’t pass up the “Bullwinkle and Rocky” reference.)
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, announced Whitehead’s arrest, saying, “Threats to federal buildings are taken extremely seriously and we will continue to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law any attempts to disrupt the proper functioning of government and endanger the community.”
Whitehead was officially charged with willfully making a threat through the use of a telephone in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 844(e) which states:
Whoever, through the use of the mail, telephone, telegraph, or other instrument of interstate or foreign commerce, or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, willfully makes any threat, or maliciously conveys false information knowing the same to be false, concerning an attempt or alleged attempt being made, or to be made, to kill, injure, or intimidate any individual or unlawfully to damage or destroy any building, vehicle, or other real or personal property by means of fire or an explosive shall be imprisoned for not more than 10 years or fined under this title, or both.
The charge is punishable by a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.
Whitehead a/k/a “Rabbit” a/k/a “Squirrel” currently remains in jail. His arraignment is slated for May 5, 2015.
