Traveler on cruise ship charged with terrorism
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Federal terrorism charges were filed yesterday against a 20-year-old California woman who allegedly threatened to kill the passengers and crew of a cruise ship sailing to Hilo last week, said U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo.
Kelley Marie Ferguson of Laguna Hills was charged with two counts of threatening acts of terrorism, Kubo said. Each count carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. Probation is not allowed under the statute, meaning Ferguson would be required to spend some time in prison, if convicted.
She was traveling with her parents and siblings aboard Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Sea when crew members found two threatening notes last Tuesday and Wednesday, Kubo said. Authorities diverted the ship to O'ahu waters so it could be searched and crew and passengers interviewed.
"The defendant said that she never wanted to go on the cruise with her family and that she wrote these notes hoping it would shortern her time on the cruise, thereby allowing her to rejoin her boyfriend in Rancho Santa Margarita, California," Kubo said.
The ship, with nearly 2,400 people on board, was on a 10-day trip out of Ensenada, Mexico.
About 120 federal, state and military investigators searched the ship for biological, chemical, radiological and explosive materials. None was found and the ship resumed its trip Thursday.
"I find it very disturbing that after causing all this fear, excitement and concern that the defendant never showed any degree of regret or remorse for her actions — not even after her arrest," Kubo said.
Daniel Dzwilewski, special agent in charge of the FBI's Hawai'i office, said authorities responded appropriately. "You didn't know the nature of the threat, so we had to take it seriously," he said.
At an intial appearance in federal court yesterday afternoon, Ferguson was dressed in a blue chambray uniform issued to all federal detainees. She stood and smiled when her name was called.
Pamela Byrne, a deputy federal public defender who represented Ferguson, described her client as, "basically a kid with a personal problem."
"Instead of being charged as a terrorist, she should have been charged with being a teenager," Byrne said.
Ferguson's parents and two sisters who also were on the cruise did not appear in court. Officials said they believed the other family members finished the cruise aboard the Legend of the Seas, which docked in Honolulu on Monday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Sorenson is expected to ask at Ferguson's next court appearance Thursday that she be held without bail while awaiting trial.
Advertiser staff writer David Waite and the Associated Press contributed to this story.
Correction: The next court appearance for Kelley Marie Ferguson is Thursday. Ferguson lives in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. The date of her next court appearance and her hometown were incorrect in a previous version of this story.
