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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 6:26 p.m., Monday, June 2, 2008

STAR SIMPSON
Maui student avoids jail time for bomb-scare incident

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Star Simpson, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student from Maui, will do 50 hours of community service.

MICHAEL DWYER | Associated Press

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BOSTON — A student from Maui who caused an airport bomb scare by wearing a blinking circuit board on her shirt was ordered today to perform 50 hours of community service and write a letter of apology.

An East Boston District judge placed Star Simpson on probation for a year. If Simpson completes the probation, the disorderly conduct charge she faced will be dismissed.

Simpson, a 20-year-old Massachusetts Institute of Technology student from Lahaina, Maui, had gone to Logan International Airport in September to pick up her boyfriend.

Her sweatshirt, which she described as a piece of art, had a battery-powered circuit board with flashing lights. Security personnel became alarmed by the device and arrested her at gunpoint outside the airport.

Simpson originally was charged with possession of a hoax device, a felony, but prosecutors lowered that to misdemeanor disorderly conduct.