An El Paso man has been convicted of making false reports to law enforcement that a co-worker had made threats against President Barack Obama.
A Justice Department statement says Keith Nicholas Aiken was convicted Thursday in El Paso of making the false statements while working as a civilian military employee in Afghanistan.
According to trial evidence, Aiken reported in January 2011 that the co-worker threatened to shoot Obama and threatened that a friend was planning to blow up Air Force One. The report prompted the U.S. Secret Service to deploy agents to Afghanistan, disrupting what prosecutors called a significant investigation.
Aiken confessed to lying about the threats about six weeks later.
Aiken could receive up to five years in prison on each of the two counts Sept. 13.
