Los Angeles, CA — A Miami Beach yeshiva student was sentenced to six months of home detention and ordered to do community service for calling in a bomb threat for a JetBlue flight at Long Beach airport after he arrived too late to board the plane last summer.

Y***** W*** acknowledged when he pleaded guilty last fall that he made the hoax threat to try to keep the Aug. 26 evening flight to Fort Lauderdale from leaving before he could board. W*** also was fined $1,000.

Attorney Donald Etra said his 22-year-old client wanted to apologize to the passengers on the flight, who were delayed about a half-hour because of the hoax. “He does realize ... that you don't mess with airlines, you don't mess with airline safety,” Etra told U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper.

Yeshiva Student Sentenced For Long Beach Airport Bomb Hoax

Los Angeles, CA — A Miami Beach yeshiva student was sentenced to six months of home detention and ordered to do community service for calling in a bomb threat for a JetBlue flight at Long Beach airport after he arrived too late to board the plane last summer.

Y***** W*** acknowledged when he pleaded guilty last fall that he made the hoax threat to try to keep the Aug. 26 evening flight to Fort Lauderdale from leaving before he could board. W*** also was fined $1,000.

Attorney Donald Etra said his 22-year-old client wanted to apologize to the passengers on the flight, who were delayed about a half-hour because of the hoax. “He does realize … that you don’t mess with airlines, you don’t mess with airline safety,” Etra told U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper.

According to FBI Agent David Gates, W*** admitted making a 911 call from an airport pay phone, after a JetBlue supervisor refused to issue him a boarding pass for Flight 243 because he was late.

The flight was delayed while bomb-sniffing dogs were used to search the plane.

17 Comments

  • Rivka Chaya

    How can any supposedly responsible adult behave in such an irresponsible and careless manner belies belief. The other passengers must have been terrified, and all because one bochur was unable to organise himself properly to be at the airport on time. He should be totally ashamed of himself, and I don’t feel that the punishment is befitting his actions.

  • Aaron Kohn

    as a yeshiva BOCHUR he also has an obligation not to cause a CHILLUL HASHEM CH”V but mistameh there are issues.

  • Moishy Schwartz

    I guess Yeshiva hasnt Taught this boy much about how to be a person… What an Idiot and a shame to all…

  • lubavitcher bochur

    why do you make it sound like it was a lubavitcher bochur? it was a litvecher from florida who was in l.a. for a friends (also not lubavitchers )wedding

  • Is a Yeshiva a Mental Health Clinic???

    So WHAT if he just so happened to have been a “Yeshiva Student”????????????

    Every element of society, statistically speaking must have a mix of all kinds of people, including “normal” people and “less than normal people” and a statistically guaranteed mixture of some people with mental and emotional difficulties and issues and much worse.

    The function of every yeshiva is not to employ psychiatrists to be a CURE ALL for everyones emotional problems.

    This type of abnormal youngster who did this, could have been white black, frum or non frum and of any race.

    It is a statistical inevitability, that these kinds of problems sadistically must also be present in every mix of human beings, regardless if they just so happened to be geographically located in a Yeshiva also.

    These kinds of things happen every day all over the country amongst all elements of disturbed individuals.

    99.99% of the time, it’s not even a NEWS story.

    The only reason it made it to the news is only because odd chance, this sick person happened to have been at a Yeshiva instead of at a psychiatric clinic.

    Being Jewish and being frum, does not guarantee that non will ever require psychiatric care.

    The Law however DOES punish people that are mentally deficient and who need psychiatric care.

    The only rare exception for being excused from legal punishment is for people who “can’t tell right from wrong”.

    But otherwise, “the law” regularly throws people into jail who actually do need a lot of psychological and or psychiatric counseling, therapy and or medications.

  • to dude

    how do you know he wasnt lubavitch? and even iff he wasnt, does that make it any less shamful?

  • miami beach bum

    This bochur is not even from Florida. He is an Israeli who learns part time at Talmudic University (Zweig’s Yeshiva). Nobody from Miami Beach would EVER do something as sinister as that.

  • who cares

    why rub in that he is a yeshiva buchur
    when a black person does a crime do u rub in the fact that he is black
    when a south american does a crime do u rub in the fact that he is a south a merican
    who cares if he is a yeshiva bochur or a dropout
    like the last guy said a yeshiva is a place to learn not to go psychiatrists

  • you guys dont get it

    you all simple dont get it

    im proud of this guy, i think what this genious pulled off is very impressing!

    i want to see if any of YOU could pull that off!!!

  • CY Lang

    Years and years spent over the gemoroh finally paid off. I hope he gets the proper recognition he deserves.
    He messed up just once.
    He got caught.

  • Lubavitch innocent?

    So, he wan’t a Lubavitcher.
    But, the grim reality is
    that, unfortunately, some
    Lubavitchers have done even
    worse!

  • mendy

    it might have bin fun but a arport is no place to joke arond allso it makes a big chelul hashem

  • MHartwitz

    WHO CARES IF HE’S LUBAVITCH OR NOT? Some Lubavitchers do worse things in Crown Heights everyday! It’s amazing how Crown Heightsers are always in denial!…wake up!

  • Miri

    Simply don’t joke around in an airport of all places. If I missed my flight, tough matzah! Besides who would want to call in a bomb threat after what happened on 9/11. I don’t know what to say about this. What is there to say? How about “Think before you act” that’s a good one. But, hey I know how he felt, I’ve been in similar situations myself. But never would I prank call an airport, that’s meshugah.