Illegal immigrant ex-school secretary who made bomb threat indicted on gun charges

Claudia Rodriguez-Oviedo (Pratt County Sheriff's Office.)

A former secretary at a Kansas elementary school who admitted to emailing a bomb threat last year has been indicted on federal firearms charges, authorities said Tuesday.

Claudia Rodriguez-Oviedo, 33, faces two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a person illegally in the United States, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said in a statement.

The indictment claims Rodriguez-Oviedo, a native of Mexico, was in possession of a Remington handgun and 35 rounds of ammunition when she was arrested in connection with the bomb threat targeting Unified School District 382 in Pratt this past Nov. 8.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SECRETARY ARRESTED OVER BOMB THREAT

According to an affidavit made public that December, Rodriguez-Oviedo told authorities that she sent the bomb threat to "see what it felt like." At the time, she was working as a secretary at Southwest Elementary School in Pratt.

In January, Rodriguez-Oviedo was sentenced to 12 months in prison after she pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated criminal threat and one count of unlawful act concerning a computer.

At the time of Rodriguez-Oviedo's sentencing, Pratt County Attorney Tracy Beverlin said that her visa was due to expire this month and her deportation was imminent.

If convicted of both gun charges, Rodriguez-Oviedo faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000, said McAllister, who added that ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) investigated the case.