BLAINE, MINN. – United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced the sentencing of RAY GHANSHAM PERSAUD, 22, to one year and one day in prison for calling in a bomb threat to the University of St. Thomas on September 17, 2019. PERSAUD, who pleaded guilty on September 22, 2020, was sentenced earlier today by Judge Eric C. Tostrud in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota.
According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed with the court, on three separate occasions – April 17, 2019; August 20, 2019; and September 17, 2019 – PERSAUD, who was at the time an undergraduate student at the University of St. Thomas, called in to the University’s main switchboard and falsely stated that there was a bomb on the St. Paul campus.
The bomb threats caused substantial fear and disruption to the University, including the evacuation of campus buildings and a childcare center, re-routing of traffic on nearby streets, and a full response by the University’s Public Safety personnel. PERSAUD admitted that on the dates he called in the bomb threats he had failed to complete his homework and was unprepared for class.
This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI and the St. Paul Police Department.
This case was being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Docherty.
Defendant Information:
RAY GHANSHAM PERSAUD, 22
Blaine, Minn.
Convicted:
- Using an instrumentality of interstate commerce to maliciously make a threat to damage and destroy any building, by means of explosives, 1 count
Sentenced:
- One year and one day in prison
- Two years supervised release