Texas man pleads guilty for leaving plane bomb threat note

A man who admitted scribbling a on a gum wrapper and leaving it aboard a Southwest Airlines plane pleaded guilty to a charge of interfering with an airline flight crew, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Thursday.

Elias Jeremiah Cervantez, 20, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 (207,245) fine when sentenced Dec. 30.

At a federal court hearing, Cervantez admitted he was on a flight from Dallas to Midland on Aug. 5 when he wrote "Theres a bomb on the plane!" The note was left on a fold-down tray table and discovered by a passenger on a subsequent flight.

The captain notified air traffic control, which ordered the plane to land at Houston's Hobby Airport. Police searched the plane and found no evidence of a bomb. I.L.