Eby sentenced in bomb threat hoax

SANDPOINT — A Bonners Ferry woman who plead guilty to calling in a phony bomb threat was sentenced to jail time and restitution payments Tuesday morning.

Judge Barbara Buchanan sentenced Robin Ann Eby, 48, to 180 days in jail with 97 days credit for time already served, according to court documents. Eby also received three years of fixed supervised probation with a possible 10 years total and fined $500 plus $240.50 in court costs and $300 in defense reimbursement. Finally, she must serve 100 hours of community service and pay $1,918.85 to the county for wages lost while employees were evacuated in response to the bomb threat. She has four years to complete payment.

Eby was also sentenced on a separate burglary case. She will serve one year of fixed probation with three years possible and serve 180 days in jail with 97 days credit. These sentences will run concurrently with those leveled for the bomb threat.

The court sentencing concerned an incident last March, during which Eby allegedly attempted to contact the Bonner County Daily Bee to relate a bomb threat against the Bonner County Administration Building, which served as the courthouse at the time. Instead, she accidentally reached an assisted living facility and related the threat to employees there, according to the Sandpoint Police Department. As a result, county employees were evacuated from the administration building.

Sandpoint police connected Eby to the call after examining phone records. They also noticed she was scheduled to be sentenced for possession of methamphetamine on the day of the hoax, although Eby claimed the call was spontaneous. Eby was later sentenced to three to six years in prison for the drug offense, but jurisdiction was retained, qualifying her for probation in April.

While awaiting trial on the threat, Eby was also charged with a burglary offense involving the fraudulent return of a personal computer to Walmart Supercenter. Eby plead guilty to both the bomb threat and the burglary charge in a June hearing.

At the sentencing, Buchanan said she saw a change in the defendant and hoped she would move forward from the experience. However, a bomb threat was no laughing matter, and a message needed to be sent out that such hoaxes couldn’t be tolerated, she added.