Philadelphia Man Sentenced for Threats to Officials

Richard A. Zangari, 44, of Philadelphia, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for threatening to kill an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia and threatening to destroy the Philadelphia Police Administration Building, announced United States Attorney Zane D. Memeger. Zangari pleaded guilty, on July 8, 2010, to two counts of using an instrumentality of interstate commerce to make threats, and one count of interstate communication of a threat to kill.

On April 3, 2010, at approximately 11:45 p.m., Zangari called the National Security Agency (NSA) and left a voice mail message stating, “Yes hello, I’m down here in Philadelphia, guess what, got a van standing by with Semtex and barrels of explosives to blow up Philadelphia Police Headquarters sky high.” Investigators learned that Zangari called the NSA on 68 occasions between January 26, 2010, and April 10, 2010, leaving similar disturbing messages on each occasion. Approximately 50 telephone calls were made from the same phone number to the NSA office during the weekend beginning February 26, 2010. On each of the occasions that the male called, he left a message on the voice mail system of the NSA. In each of the calls the male caller identified himself as “Richard A. Zangari from Philadelphia.”

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Cynthia M. Rufe ordered Zangari to complete three years of supervised release to include intensive inpatient treatment at a mental health facility. Zangari is not permitted in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania without express permission.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Salvatore L. Astolfi.