FBI: Wheaton student expected to be caught

A Wheaton student who police say made e-mail threats of violence on the University of Illinois at Chicago campus told police she expected to get caught.

Mahtab Shirani, 24, who faces federal charges told police, "What was I thinking? I knew you would find out who sent it from the (computer) logon, and I know there are cameras everywhere," according to an FBI affidavit.

The Wheaton North High School graduate was arrested Friday by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. She already is facing state disorderly conduct charges for e-mails sent to a school administrator on Feb. 15 -- the day after the Northern Illinois University shootings -- from a computer lab.

According to the FBI, she was arrested by federal agents without incident and charged with one count of making threats through use of interstate commerce.

On Feb. 17, a Cook County judge set Shirani's bond at $75,000. Friday, she appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan, who released her on bond. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the federal charges.

Members of her family, reached Saturday, declined to comment.

In a media interview, the Wheaton woman said she's been depressed since the death of her mother last fall, the e-mail was only a cry for help and that she had no intention of following through on the threat.