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Man Pleads Guilty to Statue of Liberty Terrorist Hoax

By Elizabeth Elizalde | June 7, 2016 9:49am
 The Statue of Liberty on a sunny New York City day was the subject of a hoax 911 terrorist call in 2015.
The Statue of Liberty on a sunny New York City day was the subject of a hoax 911 terrorist call in 2015.
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Getty/Andrew Burton

NEW YORK CITY — A West Virginia man has pleaded guilty to making a hoax 911 call last year, warning that he was an ISIS terrorist who planned to blow up the Statue of Liberty, federal officials said. 

Jason Paul Smith, 42, pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to one count of conveying false and misleading information, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, said Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Officials said Smith used his iPad to call 911 in May 2015 — using a service for the hearing impaired — in which he identified himself as Abdul Yasin, an ISIS terrorist who was preparing to "blow up" the Statue of Liberty. 

After the call, law enforcement officers evacuated more than 3,200 people who were at Liberty Island at the time and dispatched K-9 units trained to detect explosives to sweep the landmark, which draws 4 million visitors a year.

The iPad registered under Smith's name was used to make to make other calls last May in which he claimed to be an “ISIS allah Bombmaker” and another in which he threatened to attack Times Square and kill police officers at the Brooklyn Bridge.

Smith is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 6.