Woman sentenced for cruise threat

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A 20-year-old California woman who wrote and posted letters threatening to kill Americans aboard a cruise ship bound for Hawai'i in April was sentenced to two years in prison yesterday, the maximum under federal sentencing guidelines.

Kelley Marie Ferguson was sentenced to two years in prison, the maximum under federal sentencing guidelines. Advertiser library photo

Ferguson pleaded guilty in May to posting the notes aboard the Legend of the Seas cruise ship, which was en route from Ensenada, Mexico, to Hilo, in hopes the ship would return to Mexico and allow passengers to return home. At the time, Ferguson was pregnant.

Gillmor ordered Ferguson to begin serving the prison term on Nov. 4.

Ferguson declined to make a statement in court before being sentenced.

The threatening letters caused the ship to be diverted from Hilo to Honolulu, where it anchored a mile offshore while a terrorism response team of more than 100 federal, state, local and military law enforcement officers and 40 bomb-sniffing dogs were put aboard the ship to search for explosives or other weapons.

The Coast Guard has estimated the incident cost taxpayers about $340,000.

Federal Deputy Public Defender Loretta Faymonville yesterday urged the judge to forgo a prison sentence for Ferguson, describing the incident as "a crime without violence or the intention to hurt anyone."

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Sorenson said sparing Ferguson from a prison term would be "an affront to common sense." He said Ferguson's "self-centered and selfish behavior" ruined the plans and vacations of hundreds of people.

In addition, because Ferguson's hoax came after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Ferguson's actions further eroded Americans' trust in being able to travel safely, Sorenson said.

Faymonville, however, said Ferguson simply wanted to go home and "wasn't thinking clearly."

She said Ferguson now realizes that what she did was "very, very wrong" and that people who know Ferguson describe her as kind, responsible and caring, and believe that what she did aboard the cruise ship was "out of character."

"She still is that person, and now is trying to be a good mother and is very, very sorry for what she did," Faymonville said.

She said Ferguson was not trying to collect a ransom or make a political statement. Ferguson was young and scared and was trying to hide the fact that she was pregnant from her parents who were with her on the cruise, Faymonville said.

Ferguson's parents, Tim and Debra, watched the sentencing from the gallery, but left the courthouse without comment.

Faymonville said it is "simply not necessary to separate (Ferguson) from her young baby" who was born about three months ago.

The baby was at Faymonville's office as Ferguson was being sentenced.

Sorenson called Ferguson's actions a "false threat case on steroids."

"This was not a call-in bomb threat that temporarily inconvenienced a few people," Sorenson said. "If (Ferguson) had gotten her way, more than 1,000 people would have had their Hawaiian dream vacations ruined," he said.

Sorenson said he has spoken to some of the other passengers who were aboard the ship, many of whom had to scrap their plans to view Kilauea Volcano during the ship's scheduled stop in Hilo.

"They continue to be very angry and disappointed; they suffered a great deal of fear and anxiety," Sorenson said.

Outside the courthouse, Sorenson said he was disappointed that Ferguson did not apologize in court for the hoax.

"She had an opportunity to publicly apologize for her actions and she didn't take advantage of that," Sorenson said.

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.