Red Onion Inmate Receives 10-Year Sentence for Threatening President and Warden
Christopher Coates Mailed Threatening Letter to President Obama
| U.S. Attorney’s Office February 19, 2010 |
ABINGDON, VA—An inmate at Red Onion State Prison was sentenced this week to an additional 10 years in prison for mailing threatening communications and threatening the life of the President of the United States.
Christopher Coates, 29, previously pled guilty to one count of threatening the President of the United States and one count of mailing threatening communications. On Tuesday, Chief United States District Judge for the Western District of Virginia, James P. Jones, sentenced Coates to the maximum possible penalty of 10 years in prison, to be served consecutive to his other sentences.
“Mr. Coates has been incarcerated for his entire adult life. During that time, he has repeatedly demonstrated his propensity for violence,” United States Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy said today. “When a man with such a violent past threatens others, we must hold him accountable. I believe Judge Jones acted appropriately in sentencing the defendant to the maximum penalty and ensuring that such a penalty will be served consecutive to Mr. Coates’ other sentences.”
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea and sentencing hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Lee, on March 2, 2009, Coates mailed a letter from the Red Onion State Prison, where he was an inmate, stating that he would kill President Obama and rape and kill his wife and children. Furthermore, Coates’ stated he would kill the warden of Red Onion State Prison.
Coates’ letter contained numerous racial slurs and was smeared with Coates’ own blood. When interviewed by agents with the United States Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Coates admitted he had written the letter. Coates was due to be released from the Virginia Department of Corrections on February 18, 2010.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Zachary T. Lee and Jennifer Bockhorst of the United States Attorney’s Office in Abingdon, prosecuted the case.