Arkansas man gets prison for making bomb threats to avoid court appearance

A west Arkansas man was sentenced to 2½ years in federal prison on Wednesday for making bomb threats at a Missouri courthouse to avoid a court appearance.

Phillip Ray Robison, Jr., 36, of Hartford pleaded guilty to maliciously conveying false information related to explosive materials in federal court earlier this year.

Robison admitted to a ploy in which he made bomb threats to a court clerk in Cedar County, Mo., beginning in January 2016, according to a news release from Tom Larson, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

"You better tell Judge Bickel to clear the courthouse cuz a bomb is going off at 2:30," Robinson told a clerk over the phone on Jan. 11, 2016, the release stated.

Police closed the courthouse, but they found no explosives.

Robison, who was scheduled to before a judge for a probation violation hearing, called in another threat, prompting another law enforcement search, the release said. Court was eventually canceled because of delays caused by the bomb search.

Bailiffs noticed Robison acting nervously, but he wasn't arrested until several weeks later when he made another threat.

Robison's hearing was rescheduled for Jan. 25, 2016, and he again made a bomb threat to avoid going to court, the news release said.

Cedar County sheriff's deputies who were familiar with the first incident noticed Robison again, and when questioned, Robison admitted making the threats in an attempt to have court canceled.

"Robison believed that if his hearing was held, the court would return him to jail, and he wanted to avoid returning to jail," the release states.

Robison had also avoided a court appearance in December 2015 because of a "medical emergency," the release added.

U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool ordered Robison's sentence to be served consecutively with his sentence in the Cedar County case.

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Metro on 10/19/2017

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