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Press Release

Roanoke Man Sentenced for Making False Statement

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Virginia
Shane G. Eaton Falsely Accused Ex-Girlfriend of Making a Threat

ROANOKE, VIRGINIA – A Roanoke man, who previously pled guilty to willfully making a false statement to an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke.

Shane G. Eaton, 21, of Roanoke, Va., previously waived his right to be indicted and pled guilty to a one count Information charging him with willfully making a false statement in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the government of the United States. Today in District Court, Eaton was sentenced to 14 days in jail to be followed by 30 days of supervised release. The defendant was also fined $200 and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.  

“Mr. Eaton falsely accused an ex-girlfriend of making threats against the President of the United States and of her intentions to join a known terrorist organization,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today. “We take the act of making false statements to law enforcement extremely seriously. The actions of this defendant wasted valuable federal resources and subjected an innocent person to the scrutiny of a federal investigation.”

According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel Bubar, on March 12, 2015 Eaton walked into the downtown Roanoke offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and made a statement to an agent there that his ex-girlfriend made threats against the life of the President of the United States and planned to join ISIS.

During interviews with Eaton’s ex-girlfriend and her mother, agents determined that Eaton’s original statements were false. In subsequent interviews with Eaton, conducted on March 16, 2015 by agents with the FBI and the United States Secret Service, Eaton admitted that his prior statements were not truthful and that he lied about his ex-girlfriend in order to get her into trouble. In a Mirandized statement, Eaton wrote, “I lied to the agent,” and “Sorry for what I had done.”

The Investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Secret Service, the Virginia State Police and the Roanoke City Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Daniel Bubar prosecuted the case for the United States.

 

Updated January 11, 2016