Utah man pleads guilty to making bomb threat to delay child's birth

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A Utah man has pleaded guilty in federal court to calling in a bomb threat to a hospital last year in a purported effort to delay the delivery of his child until he could get there from Idaho.

Michael Sherman Morlang, 26, of Payson, was indicted in November for maliciously conveying false information about explosive materials.

On Monday, Morlang pleaded guilty as charged in U.S. District Court.

Sentencing is set for June 7 before Judge Ted Stewart in St. George. The crime carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

A state charge of making a terrorism threat filed earlier in Sevier County will be dismissed in favor of the federal charge, according to federal prosecutors.

According to court records, Sevier Valley Medical Center in Richfield received the bomb threat at 7:51 a.m. Sept. 17 in a call from a number with the Idaho area code. Nurses told responding police officers they suspected the caller was the husband of a patient who had just given birth because the man was trying to get them to wait until he arrived from Idaho.

An affidavit by Richfield police Officer Alan DeMille says one nurse told investigators "she spoke with Michael, who was extremely upset that they were going forward with the birth."

A short time later, DeMille said, Morlang called the nurses' station asking about his wife.

"I was handed the phone and spoke with him," DeMille said in his affidavit. "He told me that he was in Idaho on a bus headed back to Boise. I asked why he made the threat and he acted like he didn't know what I was talking about and soon ended the conversation."

The U.S. Attorney's Office said the medical center evacuated everyone possible after receiving the threat and remained on lockdown for several hours. People seeking emergency care, including patients in ambulances, had to be diverted to another hospital.