Earlier today, Domagoj Patkovic appeared in federal court in Brooklyn and pleaded guilty to charges related to making threats concerning explosives and conveying false information about explosives. The case was presided over by United States District Judge Ramon E. Reyes. Patkovic, who was charged in August 2024, could face up to 15 years in prison upon sentencing.
The announcement of the guilty plea was made by John J. Durham, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, along with James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge at the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York Field Office.
“As he admitted today, the defendant intentionally targeted Jewish hospitals and care centers in our District with bomb threats. In doing so, he needlessly endangered patients and staff and diverted critical law enforcement resources from their core mission of keeping our community safe,” stated United States Attorney Durham. “We will prosecute dangerous bomb threats and swatting schemes to the fullest extent of the law.”
Durham also expressed gratitude to several agencies for their assistance on the case, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York Field Office, the New York City Police Department, Nassau County Police Department, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.
According to indictment details and court filings, Patkovic and others began making anonymous phone calls as early as May 2021. These calls included violent threats against Jewish hospitals and care centers within New York's Eastern District as well as other locations across the United States.
Patkovic personally made threatening calls on at least six occasions to hospitals and once to local law enforcement responding to a 911 call from one of these hospitals. He livestreamed these calls via an online social media platform. On multiple occasions, police responded by conducting bomb sweeps; however, no explosive devices were found at any location. Notably, a hoax bomb threat in September 2021 led to a partial evacuation and lockdown at a Long Island hospital.
The prosecution is being managed by the National Security & Cybercrime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office with Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander A. Solomon, Laura Zuckerwise, Andrew D. Reich leading the charge alongside Trial Attorney James Donnelly from the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and Paralegal Specialist Wayne Colon.
Domagoj Patkovic is 31 years old from Portland, Oregon.
