The man who made a false bomb threat at Concordia University last year has been sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Hisham Saadi was found guilty in June for carrying out a hoax regarding terrorist activity. Two other charges of uttering threats and mischief were stayed.

Even though he has no criminal record, the 48-year-old was given jail time due to the gravity of his actions, Judge Mélanie Hebert ruled Friday at the Montreal courthouse.

The maximum penalty for his charge is five years in prison. After he is released, Saadi will remain on probation for three years.

Pursuing a PhD in economics, Saadi said he sent threatening emails to the university and to several media outlets to avoid taking an exam he was afraid he would fail.

Hisham Saadi was arrested in the middle of the night in his Côte-des-Neiges apartment. (Submitted by Joshua Abenson)

He made threats specifically against the university's Muslim community. Posing as an extreme right-wing group, he threatened to detonate home-made explosives in areas frequented by Muslim students.

The university evacuated three buildings and courses were cancelled.

Police found Saadi by tracking the IP address of the computer he used to send the emails. He was arrested the night of March 1, 2017 in his apartment in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood.

Police did not find any explosives or bomb-making materials in the apartment that he was sub-letting from another student.

In his interrogation, Saadi told police he suffered from anxiety and took anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medication.

With files from Radio-Canada