Home Cleveland Press Releases 2010 Man Indicted for Threats of Arson to United States Congressman
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Man Indicted for Threats of Arson to United States Congressman

U.S. Attorney’s Office October 01, 2010
  • Northern District of Ohio (216) 622-3600

A Tennessee man was indicted on two charges stemming from a threat he made to burn down the house of United States Congressman John Boccieri, Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, announced today.

James L. Schmidlin, 40, of Cleveland, Tennessee, was taken into custody Thursday night after a grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio, returned a sealed indictment on charges of communications involving threats of arson and harassing telephone calls.

On or about March 4, 2010, Schmidlin placed a call from Tennessee to Boccieri’s office in which he threatened to set fire to Boccieri’s home, according to the indictment.

“Our system of government is the envy of the world because we debate with ideas and thoughtful discourse, not threats of arson,” Dettelbach said.

Schmidlin is expected to make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga, Tennessee later today.

If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal records, if any, the defendants’ roles in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and, in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Duncan T. Brown and Thomas E. Getz, following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Canton, Ohio. An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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