Texas Man Headed To Prison For Grocery Licking Hoax

A San Antonio man was sentenced to prison for 15 months for a hoax he spread on Facebook.

Christopher Charles Perez, aka Christopher Robbins, 40, was found guilty of two counts of making false claims related to biological weapons, the Justice Department announced on Monday.

In a April 2020 Facebook post, Perez wrote: "My homeboys cousin has covid19 and has licked every thing for past 2 days cause we paid him too. Big difference is we told him not to be these f------ idiots who record and post online. . .YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!"

Someone took of screenshot of Perez's post and sent it to the Southwest Texas Fusion Center, which then contacted the FBI.

Perez told federal investigators that he knew the post was a lie. He shared it on social media anyways because he thought too many people were out grocery shopping, and he "was trying to scare people from the stores in order to stop them from spreading the virus to keep people safe," NBC News reported.

Federal investigators and prosecutors were not amused.

“Those who would threaten to use COVID-19 as a weapon against others will be held accountable for their actions, even if the threat was a hoax. Perez’s actions were knowingly designed to spread fear and panic and today’s sentencing illustrates the seriousness of this crime," FBI San Antonio Division Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs said in a statement.