A disgraced journalist smirked his way through a court hearing Tuesday, where he pleaded guilty to making bomb threats to Jewish community centers.
Though he apologized for shooting off email and fax threats from Jan. 28 to Feb. 22 in a twisted plot to exact revenge on an ex-girlfriend, Juan Thompson, 32, couldn’t control a menacing sneer as he copped to threats that terrorized JCCs and the people who use them for weeks.
Thompson was even coy when Manhattan Federal Judge Kevin Castel asked him routine questions to determine whether he was competent to plead guilty.
“I’m slightly nervous, but I’ll have to deal with the consequences of my actions. That’s why I’m here today,” Thompson said. “My mind is indeed clear.”
Castel also asked Thompson whether he faced any criminal charges elsewhere.
“Not that I know of,” Thompson replied.
The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office said Thompson sent a series of emails to his ex’s employer after their July 2016 breakup — claiming she was an anti-Semite with a sexually transmitted disease.
The Intercept, an investigative news website, canned Thompson in February 2016 for using bogus quotes while covering the 2015 racist mass murder at a Charleston, S.C., black church.
Thompson originally pleaded not guilty on April 10. But he took responsibility Tuesday for the bomb threats, including some under his ex’s name.
“For this, I deeply apologize,” Thompson said in a stilted tone.
Thompson, who is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 15, faces up to 10 years in prison.
