A Texas border woman with a long history of making terroristic threats is looking at spending up to 10 years in prison for threatening to blow up the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration building in Laredo.
The charges against 44-year-old Cristina Lara stem from an FBI investigation into a threat made on February 21, 2014, court records obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed. Earlier this week, Lara went before U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen, where she pleaded guilty to the charges of using a telephone to make threats of destruction.
An investigation by Breitbart Texas revealed that Lara has a long history of making terroristic threats against public buildings, and found this is not her first case before Judge Kazen.
In 1996, federal authorities arrested Lara for making threats in another federal building. Lara pleaded guilty before Kazen, who sentenced her to six months of house arrest and three years of probation.
In October 2004, authorities arrested her for making threats to the Graham Central Bus Station in Laredo. Authorities didn’t discover any explosives at the time. During that case, court officials noted that Lara may suffer from psychological issues, and in 2005 asked for U.S. District Judge Kazen to dismiss the case.
On February 21, 2014, Lara left a voicemail to the DEA office threatening to blow up the building, which also houses several other agencies.
“I’m going to blow up your office, you [expletive deleted],” Lara is quoted in court records obtained by Breitbart Texas.
Authorities evacuated the building, but after searching the premises were not able to find an explosive device.
The FBI took over the investigation and traced the phone call to the reception area of the Laredo Medical Center. Using video surveillance, agents were able to identify Lara as the woman who used the phone at the time that the threatening call was made. During questioning by the FBI, the woman told agents that she had made the threat.
Kazen is expected to sentence Lara later this year. She could face up to 10 years in prison for the threat.