Fmr. St. Thomas Student Pleads Guilty To Fake Bomb Threat Against University, Admits He Failed To Complete Homework
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A former University of St. Thomas student has pleaded guilty to calling in a bomb threat last year to get out of class.
On Tuesday, United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald announced the guilty plea of 21-year-old Ray Ghansham Persaud for calling in a bomb threat to the university on Sept. 17, 2019.
According to the defendant's guilty plea and court documents, Persaud called the university's main switchboard and falsely stated there was a bomb at the St. Paul campus on three separate occasions – April 17, Aug. 20 and Sept. 17 in 2019.
The bomb threats caused significant disruption to the university, including the evacuation of campus buildings and a child care center, re-routing of traffic on nearby streets, and a full response by the University's Public Safety personnel.
Persaud, who at the time was an undergraduate student at St. Thomas, admitted that on the dates he called in the bomb threats he had "failed to complete his homework and was unprepared for class."
Persaud pleaded guilty to count three of the indictment, charging him with the Sept. 17 bomb threat.
At the time of sentencing, the U.S. Attorney's Office will ask the court to dismiss the other two bomb threat charges.