Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SOUTH BEND –Jessie Richardson, 33, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Jon E. DeGuilio upon his plea of guilty for making a threat to injure through a means of interstate communication, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.

Richardson was sentenced to 33 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.

United States Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II said, “Mr. Richardson has shown a pattern of threatening behavior in the past, culminating in him calling in bomb threats to FedEx. I want to thank the law enforcement team that worked this case and want others to know that threatening people over the phone or internet could focus my Office’s attention on you.”

According to documents in this case, in November 2019 Mr. Richardson called a FedEx facility in South Bend over 200 times in less than a month. On the evening of November 12, Richardson called a FedEx call center since it was too late to get through to the local facility in South Bend. During this call he told the call center that there was a bomb in the building and that the building was going to blow up. The following day, he called the South Bend facility directly and stated that there was a bomb in the building and he hoped the people inside were ready to die. The building was evacuated for safety so law enforcement could investigate. Mr. Richardson has three prior convictions for intimidation and one for invasion of privacy where he violated a protection order.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the assistance of the South Bend Police Department. The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly E. Donnelly.

###