White Supremacist Charged with Sending Online Threatening Communications to a Florida Judge, State Attorney, and Task Force Agent

ORLANDO, FL—Acting United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the return of a federal indictment charging William A. White (36, Roanoke, Virginia) with five counts of making threats in aid of extortion over the Internet and one count of the unlawful use of identification information in furtherance of those offenses. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each count. The indictment also notifies White that the United States intends to forfeit electronic equipment, which is alleged to have been used in furtherance of the offenses.

According to the indictment, White, a white supremacist based in Roanoke, Virginia, sent a series of five electronic communications demanding the release of 14 persons charged by state authorities in the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida. Those individuals had been charged in relation to their alleged involvement in the American Front, a white supremacist organization with connections to Osceola County, Florida. Four of the threats made by White were directed to Florida’s Ninth Circuit State Attorney Lawson Lamar (who was then the elected state attorney who initiated the prosecution of the alleged American Front members), Florida Circuit Judge Walter G. Komanski (the presiding judge over the case against the group’s alleged members) and an FBI task force agent involved in the state’s prosecution. In addition, one of the threats made by White was directed to the adult son of Lawson Lamar. Each communication identified in the indictment contained a threat to kidnap, torture, rape, and kill those persons and their spouses, children, and grandchildren. The threatening communications also contained the names and home addresses of those threatened.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Irick.