Source: Office of United States Attorneys
BOSTON – A former Northeastern University employee was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for staging a hoax explosion and making false statements to a federal law enforcement agent about the hoax.
Jason Duhaime, 47, formerly of Massachusetts and San Antonio, was sentenced by United States Senior District Court Judge William G. Young to one year and one day in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. In June 2024, Duhaime was convicted of intentionally conveying false and misleading information related to an explosive device and two counts of making materially false statements to a federal law enforcement agent. Duhaime was arrested and charged by criminal complaint on Oct. 2, 2022, and subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 27, 2022.
“Bomb hoaxes are not a harmless act, they inflict fear, divert resources and put both first responders and the public at real risk as they race to the scene.” said United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “This sentence should send a clear message to everyone who engages in bomb threats and swatting incidents that you will be held accountable and that one phone call may land you in jail.”
“Jason Duhaime apparently thought he could get away with staging a hoax explosion and lying to us about it, but this sentencing proves how wrong he was,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. “Hoax explosive devices and fictious letters threatening violence cause real-world damage. It drains law enforcement resources, diverts us from responding to an actual crisis, puts innocent people at risk, and instills unnecessary fear in the community. FBI Boston’s Joint Terrorism Task Force takes all threats to life seriously and so should anyone thinking about making one. We will investigate, identify you, and ensure you’re held accountable for your actions.”
In September 2022, Duhaime was employed as the New Technology Manager and Director of the Immersive Media Lab (the “Lab”) at Northeastern University (“Northeastern”). At approximately 7:00 p.m. on Sept. 13, 2022, Duhaime called the Northeastern Police Department and reported that he was injured by sharp objects expelled from a plastic case he opened inside the Lab that evening. Specifically, Duhaime told an emergency police dispatcher that he and a Northeastern student who was working in the Lab that evening had collected several packages—including two plastic “Pelican cases”—from a mail area and brought them into the Lab. Duhaime said that when he opened one of the cases inside a storage closet, “very sharp” objects flew out of the case and under his shirt sleeves, causing injuries to his arms. Duhaime also reported that the case contained an anonymous “violent note” threatening to “destroy the lab” and stating: “In the case you got today we could have planted explosives but not this time!!! Take notice!!! You have two months to take operations down or else!!!!! WE ARE WATCHING YOU.”
Duhaime’s report and concern about a second, unopened Pelican case triggered a significant law enforcement response that included, among other things, the assistance of the Boston Police Department’s bomb squad, multiple federal and state law enforcement agencies and the evacuation of a portion of the Northeastern campus.
In statements to first responders and in subsequent interviews with law enforcement on both Sept. 13 and 14, 2022, Duhaime provided statements about the incident that were consistent with what he told the emergency police dispatcher. He expressly denied fabricating his story about the Pelican case, the anonymous threat letter and the injuries to his arms.
During a search of Duhaime’s office at Northeastern on Sept. 14, 2022, several laptop computers were found. A subsequent forensic examination of one of the computers revealed a word-for-word electronic copy of the anonymous threat letter that Duhaime claimed was inside the Pelican case. According to evidence presented during the trial, this electronic copy of the threat letter was created and printed between approximately 2:50 p.m. and 3:56 p.m. on Sept. 13, 2022, just hours before he reported the incident to the police. Duhaime printed the letter using a removeable USB drive, which he disposed of at the campus fitness center shortly before the incident.
U.S. Attorney Levy; FBI SAC Cohen; Michael A. Davis, Vice President of Campus Security and Chief of Police at Northeastern University; Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the Boston Field Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason A. Casey and Timothy H. Kistner of the National Security Unit prosecuted the case.