New Haven Woman Charged with Making Bomb Threats Against Connecticut Courthouses

Deirdre Daly, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut; Kimberly K. Mertz, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the FBI; Joseph P. Faughnan, U.S. Marshal for the District of Connecticut; and Colonel Danny R. Stebbins of the Connecticut State Police announced that Jennifer Chirico, 30, of New Haven, was arrested today on a federal criminal complaint charging her with making bomb threats against courthouses in Connecticut.

As alleged in the criminal complaint, on the morning of March 8, 2013, Chirico and others placed a total of seven anonymous threat calls to courthouses, law enforcement agencies, and media outlets, all claiming that bombs had been deployed and were going to explode that morning at one or more courthouses in Connecticut. In one call to the Connecticut State Police in Middletown, Chirico stated that three bombs were set to go off at 11 a.m. at courthouses in Waterbury, Hartford, and New Haven.

Following her arrest, Chirico appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Joan G. Margolis in New Haven and was released on a $10,000 bond.

Chirico is charged with one count of telephonic bomb threats, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.

Acting U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Connecticut State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Henry K. Kopel.