Former Security Guard Pleads Guilty to Making Hoax Bomb Threats to Secaucus, New Jersey NBA Office

NEWARK, NJ—A private security guard contracted by NBA Properties, Inc. (NBA Properties), an affiliate of the National Basketball Association (NBA), pleaded guilty today to making several hoax bomb threats to a Secaucus, New Jersey NBA Properties office, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

José Quesada, 19, of Elizabeth, N.J., entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge José L. Linares to an Information charging him with knowingly providing false information indicating that malicious damage by means of an explosive would take place. The defendant was hired to provide office security for the building.

According to the Information to which Quesada pleaded guilty and statements made in Newark federal court:

Quesada made several calls to the NBA Properties office from his cell phone over a two-day period beginning July 26, 2010, leaving multiple voicemail messages saying that he was going to blow up the building and kill people. In one July 26 call, Quesada stated: “...I put a bomb outside...Gonna kill all the NBA,....There's a bomb outside the complex in the parking lot. I put a bomb outside in the bush. No way out. Gonna blow up at 9:00 o’clock in the morning. Good luck...If you come out, it will blow up...”

Due to Quesada’s actions, the building was evacuated while law enforcement and K-9 units searched the area for hours. No explosive devices were discovered. Additional security measures were put in place following the threats.

The charge of making hoax bomb threats to which Quesada pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for March 7, 2011.

U.S. Fishman credited special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, and the Secaucus Police Department with the investigation. He also praised the Hudson County and Secaucus Offices of Emergency Management for their response to the threat.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joyce M. Malliet of the U.S. Attorney’s Office National Security Unit in Newark.

Defense counsel: Donald J. McCauley, Esq., Newark, N.J.