A Michigan teenager has been sentenced to eight months in federal prison after admitting to sending a false bomb threat to a cruise ship to stop his girlfriend from vacationing without him.
The bizarre incident took place in January 2024, shortly after the Carnival Sunrise departed from Miami, Florida, bound for Jamaica. Just as the ship set sail, Carnival Cruise Lines received a chilling email that read, "Hey, I think someone might have a bomb on your Sunrise cruise ship."
That short message triggered a massive and costly international security operation involving both the U.S. and Jamaican Coast Guards. The ship, carrying more than 4,500 people, was thoroughly searched for hours before it was cleared to resume its journey.
Authorities later traced the email to Joshua Darrell Lowe II, 19, of Bailey, Michigan. When questioned by the FBI, Lowe confessed that he had made up the bomb threat because he was upset that his girlfriend and her family had left him behind to pet-sit while they enjoyed a Caribbean vacation.
“Lowe admitted he sent the message because he was upset that the family went on the cruise while leaving him behind,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler. “Anyone making a bomb threat should expect to be taken at his word.”
Although he faced up to five years in prison, U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney handed down a lighter eight-month sentence after Lowe wrote a letter to the court accepting full responsibility and offering a formal apology.
“Bomb threats are not a laughing matter,” said FBI Special Agent Cheyvoryea Gibson. “False threats divert critical law enforcement resources and create unnecessary panic. We will hold individuals accountable for such actions.”
Despite the relatively lenient sentence, the case serves as a warning: Emotional impulsiveness and digital recklessness can come with real-life consequences.
