Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A former volunteer firefighter in South Carolina has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for sending messages about a fake bomb threat to try to get his station called in the event of a real emergency.
U.S. Attorney Beth Drake says 21-year-old Karry Max Taylor was sentenced Wednesday. He was also ordered to pay about $1,500 in restitution to cover law enforcement costs.
At a guilty plea hearing in January, Taylor admitted sending text messages a year earlier to random numbers saying there was a bomb at Columbia's Dorn VA Medical Center.
Taylor told authorities he sent fake messages because he was a volunteer firefighter in Columbia and hoped his station would be called for a real emergency while other crews were tied up at the VA hospital.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
