GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A judge agreed Monday that a man accused of falsely reporting – for the second time this year – planting a bomb at the Tampa Airport was too mentally ill to proceed in his criminal case.
The earlier false report, in April, caused authorities to search the airports in Tampa and nearby Clearwater. No bomb was found.
In the latest case, police quickly dismissed the threat. They concluded that Joshua Snavely, 40 of Ocala couldn’t have traveled to Tampa and noted his previous false threat.
On Monday, the judge in Snavely’s criminal case was told that a psychologist evaluated his jail records and determined he was mentally unfit to proceed with the case. The psychologist was unable to meet with Snavely because he refused to communicate.
William Miller, Snavely’s attorney, said the probable cause affidavit also demonstrated Snavely wasn’t fit for trial, and Circuit Court Judge Robert Groeb and Assistant State Attorney Marc Peterson agreed.
Snavely was being sent from the jail to a treatment facility, said Darry Lloyd, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.
Snavely was accused of stealing three candy bars from a drug store in August. When police arrived at the scene, Snavely said he had placed a bomb in Terminal 1 of the Tampa Airport.
Prosecutors dropped the felony criminal charge of making a false report about the bomb and formally charged him with felony petit theft over the theft of the $5.97 in candy bars.
Snavely was convicted in the earlier bomb threat and sentenced to six months in jail. He was released from jail one day before the second bomb threat.
Snavely was due back in court Oct. 30 to see whether his mental health has improved enough for his criminal case to move forward.
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