This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
What was intended as a joke — when a man put a fake note in a co-worker's suitcase before he boarded a plane — has turned into a federal court case.
Jeremiah Douglas Hill slipped a note in a co-worker's luggage while at Hill Air Force Base last summer which contained the words: "1 — Hijack Plane, 2 — Kill Obama," according to court documents filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.
When the co-worker when through security to board a Delta flight from Utah to Tucson, Ariz., in August, an airport screener discovered the letter and notified his supervisors, court documents state. The FBI launched an investigation in which Hill admitted to writing the note.
He told investigators he intended the note to be a practical joke and even placed it so it was sticking out of his co-worker's bag so the co-worker would discover it before going through security, according to court documents.
Hill is now charged with making a false alarm for intentionally circulating a false warning of plane hijacking, a misdemeanor. He will make his first appearance in federal court on May 30.
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