New York Woman Pleads Guilty to Mailing Threats to Senator Brown and Massachusetts Attorney General Coakley

BOSTON—A New York woman was convicted today in federal court of sending four threatening communications in the mail.

Roberta Cicora, 57, St. Johnsville, New York, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Michael A. Ponsor to mailing four threatening communications. Had the case proceeded to trial the government’s evidence would have proven that on May 2, 2011, Cicora mailed threatening letters, which included an unknown white powder, to U.S. Senator Scott Brown, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, and the District Court in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Cicora also sent a threatening letter to the Franklin County House of Correction in Greenfield. Cicora’s white powder letters caused the offices which received them to close down until HAZMAT teams responded and determined that the letters did not pose a lethal threat to the safety of the workers there.

Judge Ponsor scheduled sentencing for January 10, 2013. Cicora faces up to 10 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Boston Field Division; Robert Bethel, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Colonel Timothy Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement today. Assistance with the investigation was provided by the New York State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin O’Regan of Ortiz’s Springfield Office Unit.