YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WYTV) — Sentencing is set for July 15 for a man charged in federal court with phoning in bomb threats to several downtown Youngstown buildings after he entered a guilty plea this week.
Dion Taylor, 26, pleaded guilty Tuesday in the U.S. Northern District Court of Ohio to one count of willfully making a threat before U.S. Judge Christopher A. Boyko.
Court records show Taylor has been in custody since his arrest Dec. 2, shortly after one of the threats he is accused of making.
Taylor is accused of threatening to blow up several downtown Youngstown buildings, including the courthouse, police station and Voinovich Government Building.
He was spotted by police a short time after the threats were received, walking on the Marshall Street Bridge. When police checked his phone, it showed that he had called 911 at the same time that the threats were made, according to investigators.
His defense counsel, Nathan A. Ray, had asked for a competency evaluation for his client to see if he was competent to stand trial, but he later withdrew his motion. No explanation was given.
In a call to 911, police said Taylor told dispatchers: “I put a bomb at the courthouse, there’s one at the Voinovich Building, there’s one at the police department, there’s also one at the county, bye.”
The indictment in the case does not list a motive for the threats.
