BOSTON
A former Northeastern University employee convicted last month in Boston for staging a hoax explosion and lying to a federal law enforcement agent about it is facing up to 10 years in prison, officials stated.
Jason Duhaime, 46, formerly of San Antonio, was found guilty of conveying false information about an explosive device and making two materially false statements to a federal agent. United States Senior District Court Judge William G. Young has scheduled his sentencing for Oct. 2, 2024. Duhaime was initially arrested on Oct. 2, 2022, and indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 27, 2022.
“Bomb hoaxes like the one the defendant fabricated here have real life consequences. Communities are put in fear, law enforcement personnel are diverted from other important duties and there are significant financial repercussions,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “As we experience a wave of bomb hoaxes in schools, houses of worship and other gathering places, we will work closely with our local, state and federal partners to hold accountable anyone who tries to inject fear and distress into our community.”
(News Report A Year Ago)
As of September 2022, Jason Duhaime was the New Technology Manager and Director of the Immersive Media Lab at Northeastern University.
On the evening of September 13, 2022, around 7:00 p.m., Duhaime called the Northeastern Police Department.
He reported that he had been injured by sharp objects expelled from a plastic case he had opened in the lab.
Duhaime told the emergency dispatcher that he and a Northeastern student had collected several packages, including two plastic “Pelican cases,” from a mail area and brought them into the lab.
Duhaime said that when he opened one of the cases inside a storage closet, “very sharp” objects flew out of the case and under his shirt sleeves, causing injuries to his arms.
Duhaime also reported that the case contained an anonymous “violent note” threatening to “destroy the lab” and stated: “In the case you got today, we could have planted explosives, but not this time!!! Take notice!!! You have two months to take operations down or else!!!!! WE ARE WATCHING YOU.”
Duhaime’s report and concern about a second, unopened Pelican case triggered a major law enforcement response, including the Boston Police Department’s bomb squad, multiple federal and state agencies, and the evacuation of part of the Northeastern campus.
In statements to first responders and in interviews with law enforcement on September 13 and 14, 2022, Duhaime repeated the same story he told the emergency dispatcher. He specifically denied fabricating the story about the Pelican case, the anonymous threat letter, and his arm injuries.
During a search of Duhaime’s office at Northeastern on Sept. 14, 2022, several laptop computers were found. A subsequent forensic examination of one of the computers revealed a word-for-word electronic copy of the anonymous threat letter that Duhaime claimed was inside the Pelican case.
According to evidence presented during the trial, this electronic copy of the threat letter was created and printed between approximately 2:50 p.m. and 3:56 p.m. on Sept. 13, 2022 – just hours before he reported the incident to the Northeastern Police Department.
The charges of intentionally conveying false and misleading information related to an explosive device and making materially false statements to a federal law enforcement agent each provide for a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in cooperation with the Northeastern University Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason A. Casey and Timothy H. Kistner of the National Security Unit are prosecuting the case.