Arraignment reset in bomb hoax case

SANDPOINT — A Bonners Ferry woman accused of orchestrating a bomb hoax in order to stall her sentencing in a felony drug case is scheduled to be arraigned this summer.

Robin Ann Eby’s arraignment for threatening the use of a weapon of mass destruction is set for June 3 in 1st District Court. She was to be arraigned last November, but the hearing was postponed because of her sentencing in the drug case.

Eby, 45, was charged with possession of methamphetamine last year after she was picked up on an outstanding warrant in Ponderay.

On Nov. 5, the date of her original sentencing hearing, Eby allegedly tried to call The Daily Bee to warn of a bomb in the Bonner County Administration Building, but incorrectly dialed the phone number and ended up reaching an assisted living facility. Staff at the facility advised Bonner Dispatch of the bomb report and the administration building was evacuated.

Sandpoint Police quickly homed in on Eby as a suspect through phone records and a court docket, which indicated that she was to be sentenced on the meth charge on the same day the hoax was perpetrated. Eby allegedly confessed to making the threat, but said it was spontaneous rather than a calculated effort to forestall her sentencing, court records indicate.

Eby was ultimately sentenced on Nov. 9 on the drug charge. She was ordered to serve a three- to six-year prison term, although Judge Steve Verby retained jurisdiction over the defendant. That means she’ll serve up to a year in prison before a decision is made to further incarcerate her or place her on probation.

A hearing on that determination is tentatively set for June.

Despite the notable handicap of already being incarcerated, Eby managed to pick up a new criminal charge in 2013. The case file, however, will remain sealed from public view until she makes an initial court appearance.