Pennsylvania Prison Inmate Pleads Guilty to Sending Threatening Letter to District Judge in Philadelphia
| U.S. Attorney’s Office September 27, 2012 |
TRENTON, NJ—An inmate in the Pennsylvania State Prison system today admitted sending a threatening letter to a federal judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
William Brown, 21, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson in Trenton federal court to count two of an indictment that charged him with threatening a U.S. District Court judge in Philadelphia.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Brown, who is currently serving a sentence of life in prison for a 2011 Pennsylvania conviction for first-degree murder and aggravated assault, sent the threatening letter from his prison cell. He admitted writing the letter, full of expletives and threats against the judge’s life, smearing his fecal matter on it, and mailing it to the judge.
He was transferred to federal custody in June 2012 to address the indictment in this case. Due to the jurisdiction of the victim, the case is being handled by Judge Wolfson in the District of New Jersey.
The offense of threatening a federal official carries a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 maximum fine. Sentencing is scheduled for December 19, 2012.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI in Philadelphia, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George C. Venizelos, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Wolfe of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton, as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is recused from the matter.