Citrus County Man Indicted For Sending Multiple Hoax Bomb Threats

Ocala, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the return of an indictment charging David Wayne Willmott, Jr. (24, Inverness) with the three counts of making threats to use an explosive device. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison for each count.            

According to court documents, on three separate dates (November 25, 2014, April 17, 2015, and April 23, 2015), bomb threatening e-mails were sent over the Internet regarding businesses and government facilities in Central Florida. The locations targeted in the e-mails included the Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant, an elementary school, a sheriff’s office, two courthouses, and two airports. Investigators determined that these e-mails had been sent from a computer located at a public library in Inverness, Florida.  A subsequent investigation revealed that Willmott had been the person using the library computer at the time each of the threatening e-mails was sent.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Tampa Police Department. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.