Billings man accused of threatening to murder U.S. Representative Kevin McCarthy

BILLINGS — A Billings man accused of threating to murder U.S. Representative Kevin McCarthy appeared today for arraignment on an indictment, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Richard Lee Rogers, 44, pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with threats to injure and murder a member of the United States Congress and with harassing telephone calls. If convicted of the most serious crime, Rogers faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan presided. Rogers was released pending further proceedings.

The indictment alleges that on Feb. 3, near Shepherd, Rogers threatened to assault and murder Kevin McCarthy, who is a member of the U.S. Congress and was the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, with the intent to retaliate against him for the performance of his official duties. The indictment further alleges that on Feb. 3, Rogers made repeated interstate phone calls to harass a person at the called number.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey K. Starnes is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the FBI and U.S. Capitol Police.

PACER case reference. 23-112.

The progress of cases may be monitored through the U.S. District Court Calendar and the PACER system. To establish a PACER account, which provides electronic access to review documents filed in a case, please visit http://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the District Court’s calendar, please visit https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl

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