Bomb threat suspect enters guilty pleas

SANDPOINT — A Bonners Ferry woman accused of perpetrating a bomb hoax to stave off her sentencing in a felony drug case pleaded guilty on Monday.

Robin Ann Eby was charged with threatening the use of a weapon of mass destruction after relating a bomb threat that emptied out the Bonner County Administration Building on the eve of last November’s general election.

Eby meant to relate the threat at the administration building to the Bonner County Daily Bee, but mistakenly dialed an assisted-living facility in Sandpoint, which forwarded the information to authorities.

Sandpoint Police quickly identified Eby as a suspect by tracing the call back to her mobile phone, according to the police report. When confronted, Eby said she placed the call spontaneously, although investigators noticed she was to be sentenced for possessing methamphetamine the same day the threat was made.

Eby was ultimately ordered to serve three to six years in prison in the drug case although jurisdiction was retained, which qualified her for probation in April.

While awaiting trial in the bomb threat case, Eby was charged with burglary for attempting to fraudulently return a personal computer at Walmart Supercenter and collect the proceeds in October of last year.

Eby, 48,  pleaded guilty to the bomb threat and burglary charge in 1st District Court on Monday, clearing the way for her to be sentenced in July.

Threatening the use of a weapon of mass destruction is punishable by up to life in prison, while a burglary conviction can net a one- to 10-year prison term.

Prosecutors, however, are seeking concurrent, suspended prison terms and six months in jail with credit for time she’s served since her arrest on the bomb threat charge, court records show.

The state is also seeking $1,918 in wages that were lost when county employees were evacuated from the building.

Judge Barbara Buchanan accepted the pleas as being entered voluntarily and knowingly, and advised Eby that she was not required to adopt the state’s sentencing recommendations.