Man Sentenced After Lying About Writing Threatening Note On Board United Flight From San Diego To Denver

DENVER – Cameron Elvan Korth, age 22, of Denver, was sentenced late last week by U.S. District Court Judge Raymond P. Moore to serve 18 months in federal prison followed by 4 months in a halfway house for lying to authorities about writing a threatening note aboard an aircraft bound for Denver, announced U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer and FBI Denver Division Special Agent in Charge Calvin Shivers.  After his custodial sentence, the defendant was ordered to spend 3 years on supervised release.  Korth appeared at the sentencing hearing in custody and was remanded at its conclusion. 

Korth was first charged by criminal complaint on January 17, 2017.  He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on February 7, 2017.  He pled guilty to providing false information and threats before Judge Moore on April 10, 2018.  He was sentenced on July 20, 2018. 

According to the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, on January 16, 2017, at approximately 8:26 p.m., the FBI was advised of a written bomb threat discovered by a passenger onboard United Airlines Flight 231 in flight from San Diego to Denver.  The passenger was later identified as the defendant Cameron Korth.  The note stated, “THERE IS BOMBS ON UA 231  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO LAND.”  Due to the threat, upon arrival in Denver, Flight 231 was parked on an isolated portion of the airfield away from the DIA Main Terminal and concourses.  The passengers were evacuated to waiting buses and the aircraft was searched by the Denver Police Department.  No explosives were found. 

Mr. Korth was brought to the Denver Police Office in the Airport Office Building at DIA so he could be interviewed about his involvement in the bomb threat incident. Korth was asked to provide a written statement about what had happened on Flight 231 and he voluntarily did so.  As he wrote his statement, investigators believed there to be similarities in the letter formation of the words in the bomb threat and the words in the statement.  It was then determined that it was Korth who wrote the note on paper he found jammed in the seat back in front of him.  He then took the note to one of the lavatories on the aircraft, placed it in the toilet seat cover dispenser, and then pointed it out to one of the flight attendants. 

“A written threat like this is a big deal, especially when you’re one of the people traveling in a metal cylinder 30,000 feet above the earth,” said U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer. “Threats like this have real victims.  And they will get you real punishment.”

“The FBI and our law enforcement partners take all threats seriously,” said FBI Denver Division Special Agent in Charge Calvin Shivers. “Hoax threats endanger our community and divert limited law enforcement resources.  This sentence shows the seriousness of such matters and the FBI will continue to put its resources towards the investigation of such crimes.”

This matter was investigated by the FBI and the Denver Police Department.  The defendant was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kurt Bohn.