Illinois Woman Sentenced for Bomb Hoax

Caller shut down Lansing public transit with prank threat

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Timothy VerHey today announced that Nefateria Denise Ferguson, 33, of Peoria, Illinois was sentenced to 3 years’ probation with the first 4 months in home confinement, plus a $350 fine for an interstate bomb hoax.  

The Capitol Area Transit Authority (CATA) is the primary public transit system for Lansing, Michigan, and has its offices and main bus terminal co-located in the downtown center of the city. At 8:10 a.m. on April 22, 2025, an anonymous caller (later identified as Ferguson) told a CATA operator, “I just wanted to let you guys know it’s a bomb at the bus station.” Officials immediately re-routed every bus in the city away from downtown, closed the streets around the station, and cleared over 200 staff, drivers, and patrons from the office and main bus terminal. The Lansing Police Department (including a bomb-sniffing canine unit) searched and cleared the area, which was shut down for approximately an hour during the morning rush.

When called back by Lansing detectives, Ferguson gave a false name and denied having placed the call. When FBI agents confronted her with records establishing her identity, she confessed that she had placed the call as a “prank.” Ferguson admitted she was part of a group text with a CATA employee who had jokingly asked someone to make a bomb threat so she could leave work. The CATA employee (who was surprised Ferguson followed through) has since been terminated.

“Threats to bomb a public transit center are serious offenses that can cause fear, disrupt communities, and place the public and first responders at risk,” said Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. “This sentence reflects the seriousness of making a false threat and the consequences that follow when someone intentionally causes law enforcement to respond to a nonexistent danger. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to take threats to public safety seriously and hold accountable those who use threats and intimidation to disrupt our communities.”

“We want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for following through with this prosecution. What may have been intended as a joke had serious consequences and disrupted public transportation across the city. We appreciate our federal partners for taking this case seriously,” said Lansing Police Chief Rob Backus.