Man pleads guilty after allegedly making false bomb threats in Kane County

Akiel W. Davis | photo from Kane County State’s Attorney’s office

(ST. CHARLES) A northwest suburban pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday after he allegedly called 911 last year and said many people would die from bombs concealed in west suburban judicial facilities.

On Friday, Akiel W. Davis, 21, agreed to a sentence of eight years in prison in exchange for a guilty plea to one count of unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle, a Class 2 felony; one count of burglary, a Class 2 felony; and two counts of disorderly conduct, one a Class 3 felony and one a Class 4 felony, according to the Kane County State’s Attorney’s office.

About 5 p.m. March 28, 2013, Davis, of the 100 block of Adobe Circle in Carpentersville, stole items from outside a business in the 3N block of Route 31 in St. Charles Township, prosecutors said.

Then, about 6:30 a.m. Aug. 23, 2013, he stole a 1997 Mercury Villager minivan, which was left running and unoccupied in an apartment parking lot in the 1500 block of Mark Avenue in Elgin, prosecutors said. The vehicle was recovered several days later in Wisconsin when Davis was arrested on an unrelated charge.

About 9:30 a.m. Sept. 4, Davis called 911 and claimed that four bombs were concealed at the Kane County Judicial Center, then called the Kane County Circuit Court Clerk’s office and said many people would be killed, prosecutors said.

The Kane County Sheriff’s office reported at the time that a caller phoned in a bomb threat to the clerk’s office and said in the voicemail message: “A lot of people are going to die today in Kane County.”

About the same time, another call indicated four bombs had been placed in a courthouse, according to previous Chicago Sun-Times reports.

The Kane County Judicial Center on Route 38 in St. Charles, the Kane County Branch Court and Clerk’s office on Randall Road in St. Charles, and the Elgin Branch Court in City Hall were all evacuated and searched.

Other courtrooms — including the courthouse in Geneva, branch courtroom in Carpentersville Village Hall, and Aurora branch courtroom also were searched, but not evacuated, officials said at the time. No bombs were found.

At the time of each offense, Davis was on probation for an October 2012 Kane County conviction of aggravated battery, prosecutors said. His probation was subsequently revoked.

His eight-year prison sentence is four years for the probation violation and four years for the burglary, to be served concurrent to one another; plus four years for the unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle and three years for the disorderly conduct, also to be served concurrent to one another, prosecutors said.

According to Illinois law, Davis is eligible for day-for-day sentencing, prosecutors said. He receives credit for time served in the Kane County Jail.