A New Hampshire man accused of participating in a plot in which a caller issued bomb threats last year to Harvard University

A New Hampshire man accused of participating in a plot in which a caller issued bomb threats last year to Harvard University and demanded a large amount of bitcoin was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation. The threats caused the evacuation of Harvard’s Science Center Plaza and surrounding academic buildings, and the controlled detonation of what was later determined to be a hoax device on April 13, 2023, according to prosecutors. William Giordani, 55, was arrested last year on charges including making an extortionate bomb threat. That charge was dropped, and he pleaded guilty to one count of concealing, a federal felony, effectively knowing about a felony and not reporting it. Giordani had faced a sentence of up to three years and a fine of up to $250,000. Prosecutors instead recommended a sentence of up to three years’ probation. Prosecutors said at the time, that they agreed to accept Giordani’s guilty plea in part because they believed he had been pulled into the plot after he responded to a Craigslist ad. They also said they believed his response to the ad was driven in part by a drug habit and that he has made efforts to remain in a recovery program.