A 62-year-old Richfield man who made a bogus allegation that his wife was planning to bomb the Mall of America pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of making a false bomb threat.
Man pleads guilty to false claim that his wife planned to bomb Mall of America
The Richfield man, using a false name, sent the letter to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service in retaliation against his wife, who was in the naturalization process at the time, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
September 3, 2020 at 3:27AM
Vincent Togbe Konney entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel in St. Paul.
In his plea and documents filed with the court, Konney admitted that on August 13, 2018, he wrote a letter falsely accusing his wife of being part of a plot to bomb the mall in Bloomington.
Konney sent the letter to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service to harm his wife, who was in the naturalization process at the time, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Using a false name, Konney claimed in his letter that while he was riding a bus, he overheard two women discussing a plot to blow up the Mall of America.
Konney also falsely alleged that one of the women had accidentally dropped her Social Security card and her permanent resident card, and he enclosed in his letter a photocopy of his wife's real permanent resident card.
Konney urged the government to halt a "terrorist threat" by deporting his wife.
The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Docherty.
RANDY FURST
