Social Security Administration Office Bomb Threat Results in Guilty Plea in Augusta

A Social Security Administration office bomb threat last year led to an Augusta man pleading guilty to the charge against him today.

Keyon Tishaye Dickens of Augusta pled guilty in U.S. District Court in Augusta to Using a Telephone to Make a Threat to Injure a Person or Damage a Building by Explosives.

Dickens received a notice in September 2023 that the Social Security Administration wanted to recoup overpayments to his Supplemental Security Income from future SSI checks. That's when Dickens called the Social Security Administration Office in Augusta to complain. According to court documents, Dickens said, "I'm going to shoot the office up and I'm going to blow it up. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do."

After Dickens' call, he later visited the Social Security Administration office carrying a backpack. He produced a note that read, "I have a bomb," to a security officer.

The Richmond County Sheriff's Office was called and the building was locked down and evacuated.

Authorities said no bomb was found. Dickens was taken into custody a short time later.

Dickens could receive a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, and there is no parole in the federal system.

U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall will schedule sentencing for Dickens after a pre-sentence investigation by U.S. Probation Services has been completed.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, and the Richmond County Sheriff's Office, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney George J.C. Jacobs III.