A Columbus man pleaded guilty Sunday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio to threatening to burn down a Planned Parenthood clinic in 2022.

Mohamed Farah Waes, 33, of Reynoldsburg, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which prohibits a person from intentionally interfering with or intimidating someone because that person is providing reproductive health care.

According to federal court documents, Waes intimidated Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio employees over the phone in July 2022 when he threatened to the burn down their building because they were providing reproductive health services.

“Threatening to burn down facilities that provide reproductive health services is not just unlawful, it’s conduct that frightens and obstructs patients and providers of reproductive services,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a press release.

“The Justice Department is committed to enforcing the FACE Act to protect all patients who seek reproductive health services and to protect all staff and facilities that provide these services.”

Waes also pleaded guilty to felony charges of communicating interstate threats and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Waes conspired with others between March 2019 and March 2020 to launder funds using business email compromise fraud schemes, according to federal court documents. Scammers created fake email accounts as part of this conspiracy and sent emails to various companies impersonating vendors and asking that payments be made to bank accounts controlled by Waes and others.

Waes attempted to launder more than $1.9 million through the scheme and successfully laundered nearly $274,000.

Acting Special Agent in Charge Karen Wingerd of the IRS Criminal Investigation Cincinnati Field Office, which investigated the case, said Waes “played a crucial role” in the money laundering operation.

A sentencing hearing will be set at a later date.

shendrix@dispatch.com

@sheridan120

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Reynoldsburg man threatens to burn Planned Parenthood clinic