Man pleads guilty to reduced charge for false bomb threat
A man accused of threatening to blow up a nonprofit organization and to harm several St. Clair County deputies has taken a plea deal.
Kevin Koschnitzke, 37, pleaded guilty to attempting to make a false report or threat of terrorism, reduced from the original charge of making a false report or threat of terrorism. A habitual offender enhancement was also dismissed as part of the plea agreement. The plea deal reduces the maximum penalty Koschnitzke could face from 20 years in prison to just five years.
St. Clair County Senior Assistant Public Defender Donald Sheldon, who is representing Koschnitzke, did not respond to a request for comment.
Koschnitzke was arrested in April after he reportedly called St. Clair Central Dispatch and said he was going to blow up the office of Michigan Works, a nonprofit organization that helps Michigan residents find employment and training for jobs. The Michigan Works office is located inside the Port Huron Municipal Office Center at 100 McMorran Blvd.
Port Huron Police arrested Koschnitzke shortly after the threat. He said he threatened the nonprofit and deputies because he was upset with the St. Clair County Sheriff's Office over another incident he was not directly involved in.
Koschnitzke was already on probation at the time of his arrest after accepting a plea deal in a previous case for making a false threat. In January he reportedly called Port Huron McLaren and said he was going to bring a gun to the hospital and shoot staff.
A sentencing hearing has been set for 9:30 a.m. Jan. 16.
Contact Johnathan Hogan at jhogan@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Man pleads guilty to reduced charge for false bomb threat
