An Illinois woman will spend four months under home confinement for phoning in a fake bomb threat to Lansing's main bus terminal.

U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker sentenced Nefateria Ferguson, 33, of Peoria, Illinois, on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Ferguson pleaded guilty to false information and hoaxes, a federal charge carrying up to five years in prison. Jonker ordered three years' probation, with the first four months in home confinement and a $350 fine, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan. The Lansing State Journal reported the sentence also includes mandatory mental health treatment.

The case stems from an April 22, 2025, phone call. At about 8:10 a.m., Ferguson told a CATA operator, "I just wanted to let you guys know it's a bomb at the bus station," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, as reported by WLNS.

Officials rerouted every city bus away from downtown Lansing, closed surrounding streets and evacuated more than 200 staff, drivers and patrons from the terminal, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The Lansing Police Department deployed a bomb-sniffing canine unit to search and clear the area. The station was shut down for about an hour.

Ferguson called back 22 minutes later and told the same CATA operator the threat was a hoax, according to MLive. When Lansing detectives contacted her, she gave a fake name and denied placing the call, WLNS reported. She confessed only after FBI agents confronted her with documents tying her to it.

Ferguson told investigators the call was a prank. She said she had been part of a group text with a CATA employee who jokingly asked someone to phone in a bomb threat so she could leave work. That employee was later fired, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors pushed for a sentencing enhancement, the Lansing State Journal reported, arguing the hoax forced employees out of the building and widely disrupted public transit service. Defense attorney Helen Nieuwenhuis, first assistant public defender, countered that the government had not established a substantial disruption. Nieuwenhuis wrote in a sentencing memorandum, according to MLive, that Ferguson had no ties to Lansing and did not stand to benefit from the call.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler wrote in the government's sentencing memorandum, per MLive, that the main deterrent against bomb hoaxes is the knowledge that they carry serious penalties.

Lansing Police Chief Rob Backus said, in the news release, his department appreciated the U.S. Attorney's Office for following through with the prosecution. He added that what may have been intended as a joke had serious consequences and disrupted public transportation across the city.

Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, said in the news release that the sentence reflects the seriousness of making a false threat. A CATA official also testified at the sentencing hearing, though court records do not identify that person by name, the Lansing State Journal reported.