A man convicted of telephoning a bomb threat to Carpenter Technology in 2013 may end up serving time in prison even though he was initially on unsupervised probation for the crime.

James David Sanford, 35, of Greensboro, was convicted in June 2015 of phoning a bomb threat to the plant near Calhoun Community College in Limestone County. He was working as a contractor constructing the plant at the time the bomb threat was made Dec. 18.

As part of a plea agreement, Sanford was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the crime. But, under the agreement the prison time was suspended and he was placed on unsupervised probation for two years.

In October 2016, Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones asked the court to revoke Sanford’s probation because he had failed to comply with the terms of probation, which also included paying a $500 fine, court costs, a trial tax fee and $150 bail bond fee.

In his written petition seeking revocation, Jones said Sanford had been ordered to pay $50 per month beginning Aug. 1, 2015, until paid in full. And, as a special condition of probation, he had been ordered to complete 20 hours of community service within 90 days of his (guilty) plea.

Jones said Sanford failed to comply by failing to complete his community service and pay as ordered.

The court responded by issuing a warrant for Sanford’s arrest so he could answer the allegation. Limestone County Sheriff’s Officials found and arrested Sanford Tuesday, records show.

A court date has not been set on the revocation request.

If the judge finds Sanford violated his probation, he could reinstate the 15-year prison sentence.

The crime

Sheriff Mike Blakely’s investigators were initially unable to determine the owner of the phone used to issue the Carpenter bomb threat because the caller used an inexpensive prepaid wireless cellphone.

However, they were able to track the signal of the phone, which Sanford was still using. He was finally located about 7 p.m. Dec. 18 at his girlfriend’s house on Beech Street in southwest Decatur and arrested on a charge of making a terrorist threat.

Investigators determined Sanford had sent a text message to his girlfriend at 8:30 that morning, saying he was heading back home from Carpenter because of a bomb threat at the plant. However, the bomb threat wasn’t phoned in until 45 minutes later — at 9:15 a.m. In short, Sanford knew about the bomb threat before it happened.

Carpenter had to evacuate 350 to 400 workers that day. Investigators believe Sanford made the bomb threat because he had taken Monday and Tuesday off and he wanted to take Wednesday off without his girlfriend getting upset.