Kent State history professor Julio Pino pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to one count of making false statements to the FBI during a 2016 investigation.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 23 at noon.

The FBI charged Pino Monday.

Authorities interviewed Pino concerning correspondences in 2015 with a Facebook friend identified as J.E, who allegedly threatened over social media to “kill 100s of people” over a child custody case that took place between May 2015 and January 2016, according to court documents.

Julio Pino denied knowing J.E., stating to investigators he “never heard of (J.E. or) maybe I heard of him through the news.”

Authorities arrested J.E. on Jan. 11, 2016, after making threats toward the judge involved in the case. That same day, J.E. posted on Facebook, “I f*****g love Julio Pino, even if he does eventually do something that most consider horrible, I’ll still love him because I know him in a deeper way than most of you even could.”

The university also banned Pino from all Kent State campuses, and when KentWired reporters went to his house Monday, he told them he couldn’t comment and quickly went inside.

Updated Thursday at 3:39 p.m.

The university fired Julio Pino on Thursday, following his guilty plea in federal court earlier in the day. Eric Mansfield, executive director of media relations for Kent State, released the following statement: 

“Kent State University is moving forward in accordance with personnel policies in terminating the employment of Julio Pino. He remains suspended from the University, and is prohibited from coming on to any Kent State campus. A qualified instructor has taken over his classes so that his students can finish their studies on time and without interruption.”

Lydia Taylor is the editor. Contact her at [email protected].