Man Sentenced to 84 Months for Mailing Threat Letters to Federal Judge and Members of Congress

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Dennis J. Nelson, age 51, was sentenced today to 84 months in prison for mailing threat letters in 2018 and 2019 to a federal judge and two members of Congress while incarcerated in State of New York correctional facilities.

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

On March 24, 2023, Nelson pled guilty to three counts of mailing threat letters and admitted that on August 1, 2018, while incarcerated at a New York State correctional facility, he mailed a threat letter to the chambers of Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy in Binghamton, New York, threatening to kill Judge McAvoy and those at the federal courthouse with a bomb.  Nelson admitted that on July 15, 2019, while incarcerated at a New York State correctional facility, he mailed a threat letter to an office of Congressman Anthony Brindisi, containing a threat to kill Representative Brindisi, and mailed a threat letter to an office of United States Senator Charles Schumer, containing a threat to kill Senator Schumer.

Senior United States District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr., of the Western District of New York, also sentenced Nelson to serve a term of supervised release of 3 years to follow incarceration.     

The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision’s Office of Special Investigations (NYS DOCCS OSI), and the United States Capitol Police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl G. Eurenius prosecuted the case.