Man accused of Harvard bomb threat, extortion plot sentenced to 3 years probation

Crime

William Giordani, 55, faced a sentence of up to three years and a fine of up to $250,000.

By STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press

April 26, 2024 | 2:15 p.m.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — A New Hampshire man accused of participating in a plot in which a caller made bomb threats last year against Harvard University and demanded a large amount of bitcoin was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation.

The threats prompted the evacuation of Harvard’s Science Center Plaza and surrounding academic buildings, as well as the controlled detonation of what was later determined to be a prank device on April 13, 2023, according to prosecutors.

William Giordani, 55, was arrested last year on charges including making an extortion bomb threat. That charge was dropped and he pleaded guilty to one count of concealing a federal crime, actually knowing of a crime and failing to report it, according to his attorney.

Giordani faced a sentence of up to three years and a fine of up to $250,000. Prosecutors instead recommended a sentence of up to three years of probation.

Prosecutors said at the time that they accepted Giordani’s guilty plea in part because they believed he was involved in the conspiracy after responding to an ad on Craigslist. They also said they believed his response to the ad was partly motivated by a drug addiction and that he had made efforts to stay in a recovery program.

The case stems from an episode last April in which the Harvard University Police Department received a tip from a caller electronically disguising his voice saying that bombs had been placed on campus.

The caller demanded an unspecified amount in Bitcoin to prevent the bombs from being detonated remotely, prosecutors said. Only one fraudulent device was discovered.

Investigators said Giordani responded to the Craigslist ad looking for someone to buy fireworks in New Hampshire and pick up other items in Massachusetts – including wire, a safe -metal box and bag – and deliver the items to his son at Harvard.

After Giordani collected the items, the individual said his son could not meet him and would have to leave the bag with the items on a bench in a science area of ​​the school. The police then destroyed these objects.

Investigators said that at one point, Giordani began to suspect the items could be used to make a bomb, pointing to deleted text messages in which he acknowledged they could be explosive material. In another text to his girlfriend, Giordani said, “I got scammed,” police said.

Giordani also took steps to hide from police after they tried to contact him so as not to reveal his role in delivering the bag, investigators said.

There were no injuries.