A Sheridan woman pleaded guilty in federal court in Missoula for a case in which she reportedly called the Bert Mooney International Airport in Butte and said she had overheard "Middle-Eastern men" making a threat against the airport.

Melony Pasold, 46, admitted to making false statements and hoaxes before Judge Jeremiah Lynch on Tuesday. She is scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 5 and is currently released on special conditions.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, on July 5, 2007 Pasold called the Bert Mooney International Airport, identified herself as "Jamie Meyers" and said she had been at the airport on the morning of July 5, 2007 when she overheard "Middle-Eastern males" discussing a bomb that would be placed on a Skywest airplane that was scheduled to depart that day. 

After receiving the call, airport officials contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Transportation Security Administration, the Butte-Silverbow Sheriff's Office, and Skywest Airlines.  Officials searched and secured the airport and the affected aircraft.

Pasold was later interviewed by the FBI and reportedly admitted she had not been at the airport on the morning of July 5, 2007, and therefore could not have overheard this conversation.

FBI agents inspected her cell phone and found no outgoing calls to the airport. However, Pasold reportedly admitted later that she occasionally erased information on her phone.

She then reportedly said she had received a call from someone who claimed to work at Delta Airlines, warning her of a threat from Arab males at the airport made to the 3 p.m. flight.  But Delta Airlines representatives said no one made such a call to Pasold.

Pasold reportedly relayed the terrorist threat information to other individuals.

She faces possible penalties of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years supervised release.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Transportation Security Administration and the Butte-Silver Bow law enforcement.