Texas man arrested in airliner bomb hoax

FBI agents arrested a San Antonio man Tuesday accused of planting a note on a Southwest Airlines flight claiming there was a bomb on board.

The threat forced a temporary shut down at Houston’s Hobby Airport, and the plane had to be evacuated and then searched after a passenger found the note in a seat pocket during a flight from Dallas to Houston on Friday.

No explosives were found.

Elias Jeremiah Cervantez, 20, of San Antonio, was charged Monday with making a false bomb threat to an aircraft. He confessed to FBI agents that he wrote the note on a gum wrapper, according to an affidavit signed by special agent Jamaal C. King.

The note read, “There’s a bomb on the plane!” Another note asked whoever found it to call a phone number and tell them. It was accompanied by a drawing of a happy face.

If convicted, Cervantez faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney who could comment.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg said investigators had determined the note was left on the plane during an earlier flight from Odessa to Dallas.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

Cervantez’s roommate Josh Michael Gonzales told the Houston Chronicle for its Wednesday editions that it was just a dumb joke and that the two thought, “If somebody finds that, it’s going to be funny.”

U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg didn’t agree.

“People need to understand that we take these threats very seriously, and that we will prosecute anyone who threatens an airline even, as here, when the threat turns out to be a hoax,” Rosenberg said in a statement. “Not funny, don’t do it.”