Man Upset Girlfriend Went On Cruise, Makes False Bomb Threat
A Michigan man was sentenced to prison after making a false bomb threat on the Carnival cruise ship that his girlfriend and her family went on without him.
Joshua Darrell Lowe, 19, was sentenced to eight months in prison on Monday for reporting a false bomb threat, forcing Carnival Corp. to check over 1,000 rooms on board after the ship had departed Miami in January 2024, prosecutors said.
“Anyone making a bomb threat should expect to be taken at his word. Fortunately, this particular hoax did not result in physical injury,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler said in a court filing obtained by AP.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Michigan, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the incident.
According to a press release from the district attorney’s office, Lowe was charged with “making a false bomb threat” after he sent an email to Carnival Cruise Lines in January 2024. It read: “Hey, I think someone might have a bomb on your sunrise cruise ship.”
The email was received after the cruise set sail from Miami toward Jamaica as part of a Caribbean cruise. The message prompted the ship’s personnel to “individually” search “over a thousand staterooms.” Carnival also alerted the U.S. Coast Guard and Jamaican authorities; the latter “escorted the ship to port.”
Kessler said, per a statement to AP, that FBI agents were able to trace the email address back to Lowe, who had been “living with his girlfriend’s family” at the time.
“Lowe admitted he sent the message because he was upset that the family went on the cruise while leaving him behind to care for their pets,” Kessler said.
“Anyone making a bomb threat should expect to be taken at his word,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler. “Fortunately, this particular hoax did not result in physical injury.”
