TAMPA, Fla. (WWSB) – A Virginia man has pleaded guilty to charges of making a bomb threat on an airplane, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
Taj Malik Taylor, 27, Madison Heights, Virginia, entered the plea to one count of false information and making threats.
According to the plea agreement, Taylor was a passenger on an aircraft July 6 that had taken off from St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport , heading to Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport in Virginia.
Soon after the fight took off, Taylor was heard by several passengers saying his laptop was a bomb. Prosecutors say Taylor made the statement knowing it was false, with reckless disregard for the safety of human life.
The flight immediately returned to the airport in St. Petersburg.
Taylor faces a possible five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
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