A man is being charged with lying to federal authorities about a fake threat against the president.
Juan Medina, 30, of Yonkers, New York, allegedly lied to the U.S. Secret Service about being responsible for making the fake emergency call on Aug. 29 reporting a plot to assassinate the president. He is being charged with one count of making false statements to federal authorities. The maximum sentence if convicted is five years.
Medina was arraigned in a White Plains, New York federal court this afternoon and released on a $25,000 personal recognizance bond, which had to be secured by two co-signers.
The president was in Westchester County, New York on the day in question, and 911 operators say the suspect called to report that his former roommate was heading to New York with two guns–an AR-14 and an AK-47–to shoot the president. The caller said the suspect’s address was in New Haven, and he gave a description of the roommate’s call.
Later that night officers from the Hamden Police Department identified the car parked in a lot and interviewed the suspect when he was found at a nearby home. No evidence of guns were found in the car or home, and the initial suspect seemed surprised that police were looking for him. He told police thought a friend of his girlfriend, “Juan,” was responsible for the call.
Secret Service agents found Medina at the initial suspect’s girlfriend’s home on Sept. 1. He denied the allegations, but said he disliked the initial suspect. Two days later Medina agreed to an interview, but he continued to deny the claims. Another interview later took place, and Medina admitted to making the call from a pre-paid burner phone because he didn’t like that his friend and former roommate, who he initially implicated, were dating.
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