LOS ANGELES – A Lakewood man pleaded guilty today to a federal criminal charge for threatening to bomb Small Business Administration (SBA) offices and then, the following year, threatening to assault SBA employees in response to his inability to obtain COVID-19 emergency business loans.
Christopher Joseph Antoun, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of making threats by interstate communication. He has been in federal custody since his arrest in this case in November 2021.
Antoun owns Federal Student Loan Consulting LLC, a company he runs out of his Lakewood residence, according to court documents. In early 2020, Antoun attempted to obtain a COVID-19 Emergency Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). These loans provide accessible and borrower-friendly capital to small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Antoun attempted to receive approval for an EIDL loan or an advance from the SBA, but was unsuccessful in these efforts, court documents state.
According to his plea agreement, on May 3, 2020, Antoun emailed the SBA and threatened to “start bombing every location” the SBA owned. On September 13, 2021, Antoun again sent an email threatening to injure SBA employees.
Despite law enforcement contacting Antoun and warning him that further threats to the SBA would result in criminal prosecution, Antoun continued to threaten SBA employees by email.
On November 12 and November 17, 2021, Antoun sent emails threatening to injure SBA employees. Specifically, on November 17, Antoun sent an email to several SBA employees threatening to injure them by “beating the skulls” of such employees with a baseball bat.
Antoun admitted in his plea agreement that he intended to threaten SBA employees and he knew that such language would be perceived as a true threat.
United States District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha has scheduled a May 27 sentencing hearing, at which time Antoun will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
The United States Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Juan M. Rodríguez is prosecuting this case.