Former Northeastern employee convicted of staging fake explosion in 2022

BOSTON (WHDH) – A federal jury Friday found a former Northeastern University employee guilty of staging a fake explosion in September 2022. Jason Duhaime, 46, formerly of San Antonio, reported that he was hurt by a package that he said exploded at around 7 p.m. on Sept. 13, 2022, according to the US Attorney’s office. Duhaime worked as the new technology manager and director of the Immersive Media Lab at the school. “Duhaime told an emergency police dispatcher that he and a Northeastern student who was working in the Lab that evening had collected several packages — including two plastic ‘Pelican cases’ — from a mail area and brought them into the Lab,” the US Attorney’s office said in a statement. “Duhaime said that when he opened one of the cases inside a storage closet, ‘very sharp’ objects flew out of the case and under his shirt sleeves, causing injuries to his arms.” He also said the case contained an anonymous note threatening to destroy the lab, the US Attorney’s office said. The hoax triggered a massive response from Boston police and the FBI. Authorities then found a word-for-word electronic copy of the threatening letter on a laptop in Duhaime’s office, created before he reported the incident to police, prosecutors said. His trial began Monday. Duhaime was found guilty of intentionally conveying false and misleading information related to an explosive device and two counts of making materially false statements to a federal law enforcement agent. He is expected to be sentenced in October. (Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)