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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A California man is under arrest in connection to threats made against Tufts University back in May 2021.
Sammy Sultan of Hayward, California is facing one count of making threatening communications in interstate commerce for allegedly making threatening phone calls to the Tufts University Police department that launched a campus-wide manhunt. He is set to make an appearance in court in California Friday and will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
Sultan made eight phone calls to Tufts Police, six of which made specific threats, that lasted about an hour, according to U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins. Sultan allegedly claimed he had entered a female student's dorm room and was hiding under her bed with a taser and a gun.
During the calls, Sultan allegedly told Tufts Police he would use the taser if the student returned to her room and found him under the bed. He allegedly played the sounds of a taser activating and a pistol racking during his calls.
In response to these threats, Tufts Police and local authorities launched an hours-long, room-by-room search of multiple buildings on Tuft's campus. In the end, authorities failed to locate the caller.
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During the following investigation, authorities found out the calls came from California, and a law enforcement official familiar with Sultan's voice from a previous investigation recognize his voice on the records. Sultan previously pleaded guilty to charges of making hundreds of harassing phone calls to law enforcement agencies in 2017. He was sentenced to two years in prison.
Sultan now faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
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