BOISE, Idaho — The Pocatello man accused of calling in a bomb threat to the state Capitol last fall reached a plea deal with prosecutors in another case from that same day that allowed him to avoid a felony charge, according to court documents.

Donald Hawkins, 58, was originally charged with one felony count of false reporting explosives related to calls to a business in Pocatello. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor use of telecommunications to annoy, harass, intimidate or threaten, and prosecutors dismissed the felony charge.

The original felony carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, but the misdemeanor’s maximum sentence is one year in county jail. Hawkins was sentenced to 180 days in the Bannock County Jail, with credit for 80 days served, according to court records. He also received 18 months of supervised probation.

The case stemmed from a series of threatening phone calls made on Oct. 8. That morning, Pocatello police responded after employees of a property management company reported receiving several calls. Hawkins allegedly threatened violence, including saying he would “blow them up,” according to an Idaho State Police news release.

Just 20 minutes later, employees at the Capitol received several threatening calls from the same phone number. In one of them, the caller said, “You’re gonna... pay... kaboom,” before hanging up, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Idaho State Police Detective Tyler Kraft.

Later that day, investigators found Hawkins in the parking lot of a business in Pocatello, where he was arrested.

State police found no explosives at the Capitol, but the building was evacuated out of precaution. Threats involving the state Capitol fall under the Idaho Department of Administration’s purview, Idaho State Police spokesperson Aaron Snell previously told the Idaho Statesman.

Although investigators alleged Hawkins made those threatening calls to the Capitol, he was charged him only in connection with the calls made to Equity Property Management in Pocatello. Court records do not explain why no charges were filed for allegedly calling threats into the Capitol.

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