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United Airlines Flight Attendant Sentenced For
Making Bomb Threats |
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November 26, 2013 - A German national who used
to work for United Airlines was sentenced
yesterday to 18 months in federal prison for
making false bomb threats against flights
operated by the international air carrier.
Patrick Cau, who is also known as Patrick
Kaiser, 40, of Dallas, was sentenced by United
States District Judge Otis D. Wright, II.
Cau pleaded guilty in August to one count of
false information and hoaxes. While Cau pleaded
guilty to one felony count, in a plea agreement
filed in federal court, he admitted making eight
bomb threats against United from October 2012
through January 2013.
In the first phone call, on October 4, 2012, Cau
used a pay phone near his home to call an
internal United crew scheduling number and state
that a United flight from London to Los Angeles
would be bombed later that day.
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Cau made the subsequent calls to 911 from pay
phones in Los Angeles, New York City, Las Vegas,
and Seattle, with all the calls stating that a
specific United flight would be bombed.
As a result of the hoaxes, multiple law
enforcement agencies were forced to respond to
the bomb threats made by Cau. These law
enforcement responses included evacuating people
from the targeted airplanes; towing the aircraft
to a safe area; searching and re-screening
passengers, baggage, and cargo; and searching
the aircraft by human, canine, and other
detection methods.
As a direct result of Cau’s threats, United
experienced substantial disruption to its
business operations and services, including
cancellation of and delays to flights, transfer
of aircraft, and significant inconveniences to
United passengers. Judge Wright today ordered
Cau to pay $304,495 in restitution to United and
$8,838 to reimburse the Los Angeles Police
Department for expenses incurred as a result its
response to the bomb threats. |
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