Chicago man charged with bomb threats

• Reprints

Updated: February 10, 2012 8:42AM

A Chicago man has mailed letters across the country, making threats about bombing public and private properties, according to a federal indictment announced Friday.

Timothy P. O’Donnell, 51, was charged with nine counts of falsely threatening the use of explosives, according to federal prosecutors.

They said O’Donnell never posed any actual danger in carrying out the threats contained in dozens of identical letters mailed in March from Chicago to recipients in about 16 states.

The letters claimed to be from “Osama Bin Laden” and, among other things, claimed that “Al-Qaeda” had planted 160 remotely controlled nuclear bombs in schools, churches, hospitals, financial institutions and government buildings, according to the indictment.

Sun-Times Media