(The Associated Press circulated the following story on August 24.)
MADISON, Wis. — A man charged with making bomb threats that forced people to evacuate an Amtrak train in Portage last month pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court.
Michael David Conwill, 35, had been indicted for making 911 calls from his cell phone July 6 to area law enforcement agencies, including the Juneau County Sheriff’s Department. He allegedly said, “There is a bomb on the train going to Chicago.”
U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb scheduled Conwill’s sentencing for Nov. 10. He faces up to 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines, three years of probation and restitution.
Nearly 300 passengers and crew members were evacuated from the train traveling from the West Coast to Chicago. Amtrak said the delay cost the company $100,000.
Conwill was arrested two days later by federal authorities in Chicago while awaiting a train to Kentucky.