Woman who made false bomb threat indicted

By Joel Marino | South Florida Sun-Sentinel

5:52 PM EDT, September 12, 2008

FORT LAUDERDALE - A woman who authorities say claimed to have mailed a package containing a pipe bomb was arrested and indicted today on a charge of making a false bomb threat, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Sharocka Sanford, 31, is being held in a Miami-Dade County prison. She was indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale.

If convicted, Sanford could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine.

Officials say Sanford called United Parcel Service (UPS) on Sept. 5 and told someone at the company that a package she had sent to New York contained a pipe bomb. She warned that if someone opened the package, "it would blow the recipient's head off," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

UPS managed to track the package to a freigh train in New Jersey where a local bomb squad detonated it, authorities said. They only found electronics and clothing inside the box, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.