Security Guard to Face Federal Charges for Making Threatening Communications to Miami Gardens Mosque

On June 6, 2017, a security guard at a local grocery store had his initial appearance on a federal indictment in Miami that charges him with making threatening communications to The Islamic Center of Greater Miami-Masjid Miami Gardens.

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting Unites States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Gerald Sloane Wallace, 35, of Miami, Florida, is charged by indictment with the interstate transmission of a threatening communication, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 875(c) (Case No. 17-CR-20354). If convicted, Wallace faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and up to a $250,000 fine. Wallace’s arraignment on the indictment and a hearing on the government’s motion for pretrial detention has been set for June 9, 2017 at 10 a.m.

According to the court record, including the allegations contained in the indictment, on February 19, 2017, a threatening message had been left on the mosque’s voicemail system. The voicemail stated, “F… you Muslims, f… Mohammed, f… the Koran and f… Islam. I hate you Muslims, you Muslims are terrible. I hate you people. I’m gonna go down to your center, I’m gonna shoot all ya’ll. F… you, I hate your Allah, I hate your Koran, I hate everything about Islam. You people are worthless s…. Go to hell. F… you.”

Mr. Greenberg commends the investigative efforts of the FBI Miami Area Corruption Task Force and the Miami Gardens Police Department. Mr. Greenberg also thanked the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office for their assistance in this matter. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry C. Wallace, Jr and Trial Attorney Samantha Trepel of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

An indictment merely contains accusations. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.