Man gets 8 months for One Direction bomb threat

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania—A man will serve eight months in federal prison for calling in a phony bomb threat to a Pennsylvania arena before a concert last summer by boy band One Direction.

Prosecutors said 47-year-old William H. Klein was sentenced after pleading guilty Tuesday to a charge of interstate communication with threat to injure.

United States Attorney Peter Smith said Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, which runs Hersheypark Stadium, received a call July 5 during which a male caller says, “If One Direction plays tomorrow, the stadium will blow up.”

Smith said the call was tracked to a pay phone at a 7-Eleven in New Jersey, and Klein was identified from surveillance footage.

The stadium was placed on lockdown before the concert, followed by a bomb sweep and a check of concertgoers’ bags.

Originally posted at 7:31 am | Wednesday, February 26, 2014