A Louisiana man now stands accused of committing a federal crime so serious that, if he is found guilty, he could spend as many as ten years in prison—a decade of his life—because of a desperate and irrational act that began with something as mundane as an unpaid parking fee. According to prosecutors, the 35-year-old individual resorted to calling in a bomb threat at the New Orleans Airport after discovering he could not afford to pay for his parking charges, a decision that almost immediately drew the attention of federal law enforcement. The man was formally indicted on November 20 on a single count of willfully making a threat, an offense that carries substantial legal and financial penalties. The gravity of the incident was publicly revealed when the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued a detailed press release explaining the circumstances surrounding the arrest and pending case.
The episode reportedly unfolded on November 7, when the airport’s operations were disrupted by what was described as a “threatening phone call.” According to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent, the local sheriff’s office contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Violent Crime Task Force to assist in investigating the alarming situation. The affidavit specifies that the call came from a man later identified as a resident of Alexandria, Louisiana—approximately 170 miles northwest of New Orleans—who instructed the operator to “page Hassan” and warned ominously that “if you do not page him, we have the bomb.” The phrasing of the threat, coupled with its timing, prompted security personnel and investigators to treat the report as a real and immediate danger, triggering protocols designed to protect passengers and staff.
Less than an hour after the first alarming message, a second call was received from the same phone number. In that follow-up communication, the caller appeared to deliberately alter or conceal his voice, presumably in an attempt to obscure his identity, as stated in the FBI affidavit. This second call escalated the threat further, laced with profanity and aggression, during which the individual allegedly threatened to “cut the operator’s throat” and demanded that “the bomb be brought to level three.” The increasingly violent language conveyed a disturbing sense of volatility that heightened law enforcement concerns.
Through quick technological measures, sheriff’s deputies were able to trace—or “ping”—the origin of the phone signal, ultimately discovering that the device was located near the northern terminal of the airport. This information connected the geographic details of the threat with a potential suspect in the vicinity. Upon identifying the phone number, deputies realized that the name associated with it matched that of a man they had encountered only a few hours earlier during a parking-related dispute. In that earlier incident, occurring about two hours before the first threatening call, the suspect had reportedly attempted to exit the airport’s short-term parking area but was unable to make payment. Despite repeated requests from both parking attendants and airport police officers for him to clear the exit lane, he allegedly refused to comply, causing a minor disruption in airport traffic. Ultimately, he was allowed to move his vehicle to a surface-level parking lot until such time as he could obtain funds to settle the fee.
Once authorities confirmed the connection between the phone number used in the threats and the prior parking incident, deputies promptly located the suspect still sitting in his vehicle within the surface lot. There, they proceeded to take him into custody. The affidavit further notes that investigators verified their findings by placing a call to the same phone number used to issue the threats and observed that the man’s phone rang in real time, conclusively linking him to the earlier communications.
Following his arrest, the man was released on a $5,000 unsecured appearance bond pending further judicial proceedings, which were scheduled to begin with a preliminary hearing on Wednesday. As a condition of his release, the court mandated that he participate in mental health treatment, indicating a recognition that his conduct may have been influenced by psychological distress or instability. He was also permitted to retrieve his vehicle from the airport’s parking lot. Prosecutors have made clear that, should he be convicted, the potential sentence includes up to ten years in federal prison as well as a fine that could reach $250,000—a sobering reminder of how a moment of frustration can spiral into a life-altering criminal case.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/man-made-bomb-threat-after-couldnt-pay-airport-parking-affidavit-2025-12
