Federal Inmate Sentenced Following Terre Haute Death Threats, Anthrax Hoax
More Results as U.S. Attorney’s Office Focuses on Protecting Federal Prison Staff, Officials

TERRE HAUTE—Joseph H. Hogsett, the United States Attorney, announced today that Michael F. Disch, age 43, has been sentenced to 110 months (nine years, two months) in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson. In March 2012, Disch agreed to enter a plea of guilty to charges of mailing threatening communications following an extensive investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Joint Terrorism Task Force.

“Our office has made a commitment to do all we can to ensure the safety of those working in and around the federal prison system here in Terre Haute,” Hogsett said. “This sentence underscores how seriously federal criminal justice treats such reckless behavior.”

Documents filed with the court indicate that in July 2009, Disch mailed a threatening letter to the Honorable Senior Judge Larry J. McKinney, a federal judge in Terre Haute. The letter contained what was later determined to be an inert white powdery substance with instructions to “Smell this and Die.” Disch wrote that he would pay a person to find out where Judge McKinney lived and would have him killed.

According to Assistant United States Attorney Cynthia J. Ridgeway, who prosecuted the case for the government, Judge Magnus-Stinson also sentenced Disch to three years of supervised release to be served at the end of his prison term.

Disch was in the Terre Haute federal prison facility serving a sentence related to similar charges of mailing threatening communications. The court imposed special conditions of probation to include participation in a substance abuse treatment program as directed by the probation officer.