Bend man pleads guilty to placing hoax bomb at Deschutes Co. courthouse
Could face 10 years in prison; prosecutors to recommend 18 months
EUGENE, Ore. (KTVZ) —A Bend man pleaded guilty Friday in Eugene federal court to placing a hoax bomb at the Deschutes County Courthouse last July, prompting its evacuation and street closures in the area, prosecutors said.
U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams said Jonathan Tyler Allen, 24, pleaded guilty to conspiring to use a telephone to make a threat to destroy a building with an explosive.
According to court documents, on or about July 28 or 29 of last year, Allen and co-conspirator Kellie Cameron, 31, also of Bend, conspired with one another to shut down the Deschutes County Courthouse in Bend by planting a fake bomb and calling in a bomb threat.
Around the same time, prosecutors said, Cameron constructed a fake bomb using batteries, wiring, a circuit board and a fuel filter, among other materials.
On July 29, Allen and Cameron drove to the courthouse and placed the hoax device on a ramp near the building.
Around 7:20 a.m., Cameron, who was with Allen, used a cellphone to call 911. He told the operator, “I just want to let you know that there are two bombs, one’s in the courthouse and good luck finding the other one.”
Less than an hour later, with Allen again present, Cameron called 911 a second time to repeat his threat. Allen later threw one of the phones used into an irrigation canal to avoid being caught, Williams said.
The hoax bomb threat caused evacuations, street closures and a call-out of the Oregon State Police Explosives Unit.
The two men were arrested days later in a guns-drawn traffic stop in northeast Bend.
Last August 7, Allen and Cameron were charged by criminal complaint with conspiring to make a threat regarding explosive materials and conveying false information and hoaxes.
Allen faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. McShane continued his detention order pending sentencing, scheduled for Sept. 3.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said it will recommend Allen be sentenced to 18 months in federal prison.
Cameron made his first appearance in federal court on August 21 of last year. He entered a not guilty plea and was detained pending trial. A date has not set for that trial, due to COVID-19-related delays.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and the Bend Police Department and is being prosecuted by Nathan J. Lichvarcik, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
