Rockford Man Indicted on Charges of Transmitting Threats to Law Enforcement Officer

ROCKFORD — GIANNI GASPARE ANTHONY CARDENAS, 25, of Rockford, was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Rockford on two counts of transmitting threats in interstate commerce to injure another person. 

The indictment alleges that in February 2018 a federal law enforcement officer interviewed Cardenas at a county jail regarding whether Cardenas had any information about the whereabouts of a federal fugitive. According to the indictment, Cardenas told the law enforcement officer during the interview that Cardenas would “kick [the officer’s] [expletive]” when Cardenas got out of jail. The indictment alleges that in June 2019 Cardenas emailed the law enforcement officer seeking to arrange a meeting with the officer so that Cardenas could “clear [his] name.” The indictment further alleges that on or about Oct. 20, 2019, after the officer did not respond to Cardenas’s earlier emails, Cardenas sent two threatening emails to the officer. The first email allegedly stated, among other things, “Hopefully we can meet again this time with me not being in handcuffs[.]” The second email, sent less than 20 minutes later, allegedly stated, “I’ll kill you[.]”

Arraignment via videoconference is set for Sept. 16, 2020, at 9:30 a.m., before U.S. Magistrate Judge Iain D. Johnston.

The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Talia Bucci.

Each count in the indictment carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.  The public is reminded that an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.