A Waukegan man accused of hacking in an attempt to sound a false bomb alarm at Gurnee Mills earlier this year pleaded not guilty Thursday.
Raymond J. Kelly, 25, is charged with making a false bomb alarm, a Class 3 felony punishable upon conviction by up to five years in prison. He also faces two counts of tampering with a secure communication, fire or life system, a Class 4 felony that carries a potential sentence of one to three years, authorities said.
According to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, Kelly allegedly hacked into a radio system at Gurnee Mills from his Waukegan home and made a false bomb threat on Jan. 29.
He was later arrested by Gurnee officers, who said they tracked signals between the mall and his house. According to police, a search of his house turned up various portable radios, antennas and a laptop computer that are part of the investigation.
Cynthia Vargas, communications manager in the State’s Attorney’s Office, said Kelly admitted to investigators that he had hacked into radio systems at Gurnee Mills “since 2009.”
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According to court records and a previous release by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Kelly was charged in 2013 for hacking into the Lake County Sheriff’s jail radio communications system.
He was arrested after allegedly tampering with the sheriff’s office corrections talk group and transmitting “offensive language,” the release stated.
According to Lake County Circuit Court records, he pleaded guilty to criminal misdemeanor theft involving tampering with a communication server to obtain service and was ordered to pay court costs and fees and sentenced to 120 days in jail.
Kelly has been in Lake County Jail since his arrest on the latest charges. As of Friday morning, he was being held with his bail set at $10,000.
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