Lexington Woman Sentenced to 6 Months for Communicating False Information about Explosives to University of Kentucky

LEXINGTON, KY- A Lexington, Kentucky, woman, who previously admitted to sending false information concerning explosives threatening the University of Kentucky campus was sentenced Tuesday to 6 months in prison.

U.S. District Court Judge Danny Reeves sentenced 20-year-old, Haily Loriane Duvall for communicating false threats regarding explosives.           

Duvall previously admitted of using Snapchat to communicate threats to the University of Kentucky community on November 7 and 8 of 2018. According to the plea agreement, Duvall created a second account and used it to further disseminate the created threats. Duvall also informed other University of Kentucky students about the Snapchat communications, contacted the University of Kentucky Police Department and reported the threats, and also made contact with a local news reporter to attempt to publicize the alleged threat. After being confronted by law enforcement, Duvall admitted to being responsible for the threats and that the threats would be seen as a serious expression of intent to commit harm to University of Kentucky students and faculty.

Duvall pleaded guilty on June 24. Under federal law, Duvall must serve 85 percent of her prison sentence and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 3 years, which includes 6 months at home incarceration. Duvall must also pay a $1,800 fine.   

“Using the internet to make threatening communications, even if those threats are a hoax, is a serious criminal offense. The defendant’s actions were not harmless. She caused law enforcement to needlessly respond to her hoax, potentially taking them away from real emergencies, and substantially disrupted activities at the University of Kentucky and the campus area,” said United States Attorney Robert M. Duncan, Jr. “Prosecution of these hoax cases should serve notice that this conduct is unacceptable, and hopefully, it will deter others from engaging in similar behavior.”    

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge James Robert Brown, Jr. of the FBI’s Louisville, Kentucky Field Division, and Joe Monroe, Chief of the University of Kentucky Police Department, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by the University of Kentucky Police Department and the FBI. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew T. Boone.

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