A 31-year-old man pleaded guilty to making bomb threats towards a Jewish hospital and care centers in Long Island New York, federal prosecutors announced on Wednesday.
Domagoj Patkovic, an Oregon native, pleaded guilty to conspiring to make threats concerning explosives and conveying false information containing explosives and is now facing up to 15 years in prison.
"The defendant intentionally targeted Jewish hospitals and care centers in our District with bomb threats," US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, John J. Durham, said. "In doing so, he needlessly endangered patients and staff and diverted critical law enforcement resources from their core mission of keeping our community safe."
Patkovic was arrested in Portland, Oregon in May 2021 and was brought to New York for trial where he was charged in August 2024.
“Domagoj Patkovic allegedly issued a series of false bomb threats against Jewish healthcare facilities that prompted repeated emergency responses from local law enforcement and a partial evacuation from at least one hospital," FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Christie M. Curtis said at the initial trial. "These alleged actions incited unnecessary hysteria and redirected limited resources to mitigate a false alarm. The FBI will not tolerate those who utilize hoax bomb threat schemes to satisfy their antisemitic beliefs and endanger the wellbeing of our communities."
What did he do?
According to the statement, Patkovic made anonymous phone calls and made violent threats to Jewish hospitals and care centers in the Eastern District of New York.
"The defendant himself made threats in at least six separate calls to hospitals and on a call with local law enforcement who had responded to a 911 notification from one of the hospitals," the statement read. "The defendant livestreamed the calls to others on an online social media and electronic communications service. On several occasions, local police responded to the scene and conducted bomb sweeps. On at least one occasion in September 2021, the hoax bomb threat resulted in a partial evacuation and lockdown of an entire hospital on Long Island. No explosive devices were ultimately found in any of the locations."