Pennsylvania State Inmate Pleads Guilty to Assault and Threats Against Federal Officials

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Stephen Christopher Pyle, age 27, of Albion, Pennsylvania, entered a guilty plea Thursday in U.S. District Court in Allentown to a two-count felony criminal information charging him with threatening to murder a federal law enforcement official and assaulting a federal employee.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Pyle was serving concurrent sentences for both a previous state and federal conviction when he mailed a letter to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania threatening to murder the Assistant United States Attorney who handled his federal prosecution for threatening the President of the United States.

After Pyle was moved from the state correctional facility to Philadelphia to face new federal charges, he assaulted a member of the medical staff. The victim was able to fight Pyle off and federal corrections officers were able to restrain and control him.

U.S. District Court Judge James Knoll Gardner scheduled the sentencing for May 13, 2013, in Allentown.

As a result of his guilty plea, the statutory maximum penalty for the offenses charged in the criminal information is imprisonment of up to 30 years.

The investigation was conducted by the United States Marshals Service and the FBI. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Todd K. Hinkley. The matter is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania at the request of Eastern District officials who were required to recuse themselves because a member of the staff in that office was an alleged target of the threat.