Kearny Man Pleads Guilty to Making Hoax Bomb Threat to City of Passaic

NEWARK—A Kearny, New Jersey man today admitted making a hoax bomb threat to the city of Passaic, New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Caesar Canchucaja, 31, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark federal court to an information charging him with knowingly providing false information indicating that damage by means of an explosive would take place.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Canchucaja called the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness on November 24, 2011—Thanksgiving Day—falsely identifying another individual as an associate of an alleged New York City bomb plotter and falsely stating that the individual was planning to blow something up in the city of Passaic at approximately 5 p.m. that day. No explosive devices were discovered.

The charge of making a hoax bomb threat is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for December 18, 2012.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents with the FBI-Joint Terrorism Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward; the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness; and the Passaic Police Department with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joyce M. Malliet of the U.S. Attorney’s Office National Security Unit in Newark.