Traffic Exchange

Jun 10, 2013

Kou Wei Chiu receives probation for bomb threat

Kou Wei Chiu receives probation for bomb threat, A Tennessee doctor who phoned in bomb threats at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in an attempt to hold his flight at the gate has been sentenced to three years of probation.

Thirty-two-year-old Dr. Kou Wei Chiu of Nashville must also perform 500 hours of community service and pay $81,000 in restitution under the sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones.

The judge said the community service must consist of providing medical care to those who can't afford it.

Chiu pleaded guilty to making false threats.

He admitted he called in the bomb threats from a Sea-Tac pay phone last July because he had arrived late for his flight to Memphis, and he thought authorities would hold the plane at the gate, giving him time to board.

Chiu had stopped taking his antidepressants in the days before the incident.