A man’s hot-headed frustration with not being able to afford the parking garage fee at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport could land him in a federal prison for up to 10 years after he called in a bomb threat to the airport.
Bomb threat at New Orleans Airport
35-year-old Corey Johnson from Louisiana was arrested on November 7 following a swift investigation by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, who had already been dealing with Johnson due to an earlier disturbance in the short stay parking garage at MSY airport.
According to an FBI affidavit filed in a Louisiana courthouse, Johnson had tried to leave the short stay parking garage at around 7:48 pm in his Jeep Grand Cherokee, but his payment card bounced, and he didn’t have any other means to pay the fee.
Law enforcement ended up being called when Johnson refused to move his vehicle from the exit lane despite multiple requests from the parking garage police and even the local airport police.
Johnson did, eventually, agree to move his Jeep to the surface parking lot while he obtained the necessary funds to pay his bill, but a couple of hours later, at around 9:50 pm, he allegedly called the airport communications center and made a bomb threat, telling the operator: “Page Hassan… If you do not page him, we have the bomb.”
He then repeated: “We have the bomb if you do not page him,” before he disconnected the call.
At 10:35 pm, Johnson allegedly placed a second call to the airport communication center. On this occasion, Johnson threatened the operator, telling her: “Didn’t I tell you, you stupid f****ing b***h, I will cut your f****ing throat!”
He then said: “Page Hassan… I want him to bring the bomb to level three.”
Sheriff’s deputies initiated an emergency ping of the cellphone used to make both calls, which revealed that the location of the phone was near the north terminal at MSY.
The cell phone number was linked to Johnson, and his name was immediately identified by deputies as the same person involved in the parking garage standoff.
They headed over to the surface parking lot and found Johnson sitting in his Jeep, where he was taken into custody.
Man faces 10 years in prison on bomb threat charges
On November 20, Johnson was indicted on a single charge of willfully conveying a bomb threat, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 844(e).
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, if Johnson is found guilty, he could face a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, along with a fine of up to $250,000, three years of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.
What were Johnson’s motives?
Johnson has been released on bail as the prosecution gets underway, so it’s far too early to say definitively what his motivations were. That being said, it’s being speculated that Johnson had hoped the bomb threat would have resulted in an evacuation of the terminal.
That would, of course, have led to the parking garage opening up all the barriers so that people could get their vehicles out as quickly as possible.
Bottom line
Johnson faces the threat of spending 10 years in prison if he is found guilty of making a bomb threat at New Orleans Airport on November 7, 2025.
In reality, though, it’s incredibly rare for suspects of these kinds of crimes to receive the maximum sentence.
