Conviction overturned for man imprisoned for bomb threats

Published 9:54 am Thursday, April 12, 2007

MACON (AP) — A federal appeals court has overturned the conviction of a man who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for making bomb threats in the Macon area, sometimes demanding money and using a scrambling device to disguise his identity.

The conviction of Eddie Milton Garey Jr. was overturned Wednesday by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Garey had been convicted in 2004 of 27 federal charges including extortion, threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction, making and possessing counterfeit securities and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.

But the appeals court found that Judge Clay D. Land erred when he allowed Garey to represent himself during his trial, according to court documents.

U.S. Attorney Max Wood said his office is considering its options.

“We respect the opinion of the court, and we’ll do what we need to do to fulfill the interest of justice,” Wood said. “We’ll know something in about a week.”

Garey was convicted of phoning in numerous bomb threats to the Macon-Bibb County Emergency 911 center in September 2003. Places threatened included Macon City Hall, a Mall, Macon newspaper The Telegraph, Norfolk Southern Railway, Macon television station WGXA and Interstate 75.

Federal prosecutors said the telephoned bomb threats came from a computer-generated voice which was sometimes male and sometimes female.

Garey will remain in federal custody until his case is resolved.