Connecticut Man Admits Mailing Theatening Letter

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Roland Prejean, also known as “Gary Joseph Gravelle,” 45, formerly of Thomaston and Morris, Connecticut, pleaded guilty today before Senior United States District Judge Warren W. Eginton in Bridgeport to federal charges stemming from his mailing of multiple threatening letters.

“We will vigorously investigate and prosecute hoax crimes that threaten violence,” stated U.S. Attorney Fein. “These crimes cause emotional distress for victims and waste the valuable time and resources of our law enforcement community.”

According to court documents and statements made in court, in early September 2010, Prejean mailed a threatening letter to the Thomaston Post Office claiming that he had planted a hidden bomb on a remote timer in the post office. The letter resulted in the evacuation of the Thomaston Post Office as well as the Thomaston Town Hall and a Thomaston Public School, which were in the immediate vicinity of the post office. Bomb technicians from the Connecticut State Police Emergency Services Unit searched the post office for explosive or incendiary devices with negative results.

In addition, Prejean mailed a letter to a Connecticut Superior Court Judge in New London that included a substance that was represented to be “Liquid Anthrax,” and he sent threatening letters to a private individual and a probation officer in Connecticut. In those letters Prejean threatened to kill numerous people, including a federal employee.

Prejean, who has been detained since his arrest in North Dakota on September 7, 2010, pleaded guilty to one count of using the U.S. mail to communicate a bomb threat and four counts of mailing threatening communications.

Judge Eginton has scheduled sentencing for April 8, 2013, at which time Prejean faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years for making a bomb threat through the mail, a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years for mailing a threatening communication to federal employees, and a maximum term of imprisonment of five years of each of the three counts of mailing a threatening communication.

At sentencing, the government will present evidence of more than 50 other threatening letters that Prejean mailed both prior to his arrest and while he was detained in federal custody.

U.S. Attorney Fein commended the substantial efforts and cooperation of the several agencies involved in this investigation including the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New Haven, Minneapolis, and Bismarck; the United States Postal Inspection Service in Connecticut and North Dakota; the United States Marshals Service in Connecticut; the Connecticut State Police Emergency Services Unit and the Thomaston Police Department.

U.S. Attorney Fein also acknowledged the critical assistance provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of North Dakota.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David E. Novick.