SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A Syracuse lawyer is accused of calling in a bomb threat to a day care center at the federal courthouse on the day she was scheduled to argue against a judge sanctioning her.

Jacqueline B. Jones, then a lawyer with the Mackenzie Hughes law firm, called in the bomb threat Feb. 20, 2015, according to court records.

That was the same day she was scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Peebles to argue in a civil case.

Shortly after 3 p.m. that day, Peebles and Jones' opposing lawyer, Rick Guy, were wondering why Jones wasn't in a 10th-floor courtroom, where she was supposed to be arguing against Guy's request that Peebles penalize her for previous conduct.

Peebles had his courtroom deputy call Jones' office, court records show. Jones' secretary told the deputy that Jones could not be reached.

Around 3:20 p.m., the judge allowed Guy to make his case without Jones in the courtroom, Guy said.

It was around that time that Jones called The Children's Beginnings Day Care Center on the building's ground floor and spoke to an employee, according to the charges filed against her.

"There is a bomb in the federal building," Jones said in the call, court papers said. That prompted security officers to set off a fire alarm.

Jones was representing Arc of Onondaga in a civil rights lawsuit filed by an employee, Christine Delay, whom Guy represented.

"I'm literally just standing up to make my argument when the alarm goes off," Guy said. He was in court that day to ask Peebles to impose sanctions against Jones for not obeying a court order to produce evidence.

After the fire alarm sounded, everyone was told not to go anywhere while security officers searched the building, Guy said. They later reported no bomb was found, he said.

After the hearing, Peebles noted in the court record that a court security officer said no lawyers tried to enter the building during the bomb threat.

The judge denied Guy's request to sanction Jones for not complying with the previous court order. Investigators didn't discover until long afterward that Jones was the one who'd made the bomb threat.

Jones stopped working for Mackenzie Hughes on Sept. 20 last year, said John Newbauer, the firm's legal administrator. He said he could not say more because it was a personnel matter.

"I sincerely feel badly for her," Guy said this week. "She must've been under a lot of pressure."

Arc of Onondaga later settled Delay's lawsuit for an undisclosed amount, Guy said. He would only say the case was "settled to the mutual satisfaction of both parties."

Jones' lawyer, Edward Z. Menkin, said unusual stress can "cause a disruption of judgment in anyone," including lawyers.

"Lawyers in particular have to go through very stressful situations," he said. "She was in one and she's paid a terrible price."

Jones, 47, was charged in May with third-degree falsely reporting an incident -- a misdemeanor with a possible maximum sentence of a year in jail and a $100,000 fine.

She's scheduled to plead guilty Aug. 4, according to the federal court's online calendar. Assistant U.S Attorney Richard Southwick declined to comment.

Menkin denied Syracuse.com's request to interview Jones. She still has a law license, but Menkin said he doesn't think she's practicing law.

Jones wrote a letter of apology to Peebles, Menkin said.

"She's deeply remorseful and embarrassed," he said.