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Press Release

Former Naval Officer Agrees to Plead Guilty to Making Threats in Interstate Commerce

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts

BOSTON – A former naval police officer at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire has agreed to plead guilty to three counts of making threatening communications to his ex-wife and her mother in Iowa.

Luis De Leon, 30, of Middleton, was charged and has agreed to plead guilty to three counts of making threats in interstate commerce. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court. De Leon was previously arrested and charged by criminal complaint on Sept. 26, 2022.

According to the charging documents, on or about April 30, 2022, De Leon made a threatening phone call to his ex-wife in Iowa from a mobile telephone belonging to another individual. Specifically, during the call, De Leon allegedly made several threatening statements including, “You’re gonna f****** pay! Do you understand!? There will be death! There will be war in the street! You wanna to go war!? I’ll take you to f****** war!”

Between May and June 2022, De Leon allegedly sent two letters containing threats to his ex-wife’s mother in Iowa. In the letters, it is alleged that De Leon wrote, among other things, “I’ll be heading over there soon […] God help you and your dysfunctional family if you try and stop me. I won’t be alone either just so you know and that’s for your safety NOT MINE!!! […] If you don’t believe me just look where I’m sending this from. I don’t really have much else to lose, and do you know what men with nothing left to lose usually do?”

The charge of making threatening communications in interstate commerce provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy H. Kistner of Rollins’ National Security Unit is prosecuting the case. 

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Updated January 30, 2023