The Carnival Sunrise cruise ship was captured sailing in the Hudson River with a backdrop of the Empire State Building and Hudson Yards in New York City on May 23, 2019, as photographed from Hoboken, New Jersey. A Michigan man, Joshua Lowe, 19, has been sentenced to eight months in prison for carrying out a “bomb hoax” on a cruise ship. The sentencing took place several months after he was indicted on criminal charges by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Michigan, according to the Associated Press.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler stated in a court filing that anyone making a bomb threat should expect to be taken seriously, even though this particular hoax did not result in physical harm. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Michigan, did not immediately reply to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the incident.
Lowe was charged with “making a false bomb threat” after sending an email to Carnival Cruise Lines in January 2024, which led to a thorough search of over a thousand staterooms on a Caribbean cruise en route from Miami to Jamaica. The ship was escorted to port by Jamaican authorities following the alert.
FBI agents traced the email back to Lowe, who admitted to sending it out of frustration from being left behind to care for pets while his girlfriend’s family went on the cruise. Lowe apologized for his actions in a letter to U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney.
In addition to serving his prison term, Lowe will be required to pay restitution for expenses related to the hoax. The FBI emphasized the seriousness of making false threats, stating that such actions divert law enforcement resources and cause unnecessary fear.
