Nuke Terror Hoax Suspect to Undergo Psych Evaluation

A federal judge in San Diego yesterday ordered a psychiatric evaluation for a man accused of passing false information to authorities about a nuclear terror attack on Boston, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Feb. 7).

U.S. Magistrate Judge Louisa Porter scheduled a hearing March 9 to review the results of the evaluation of Jose Ernesto Beltran Ortiz. Porter ordered Ortiz held without bail after he pleaded not guilty to lying to federal officials and passing on false information about a terror attack.

The Mexican national faces up to eight years in prison if convicted under a 2004 law that makes it a crime to knowingly provide false information about a terrorist attack, AP reported (Elliot Spagat, Associated Press/Monterey County Herald, Feb. 9).

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