LAWFUEL -The Legal Announcement Service – R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, John R. Large, Acting Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Henry Gutierrez, Inspector in Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service, and the members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force announced the sentencing of defendant Nathan Danforth for making a threat against the life of the President of the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 871(a).
On August 8, 2007, Danforth entered a plea of guilty before U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley to the first count of a three-count Indictment. On Friday, November 2, 2007, Judge Hurley imposed a sentence of 41 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
The charges against Danforth arose from three letters that he sent to the Clerk of Court for Charlotte County, the Secret Service Office in Fort Myers, and the Palm Beach County Courthouse. In each letter, Danforth threatened the assassination of the President and the placement of bombs at the federal courthouse in Fort Myers. The letter sent to the Palm Beach County Courthouse contained a powdery substance and threatened an anthrax attack upon the courthouse. Danforth signed each letter “Praise Allah Jihad!” Danforth sent these letters while serving a term of imprisonment for making a bomb threat against the Palm Beach County Courthouse in 2004. Danforth also has been convicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida for making threats against the President and has been sentenced to three years’ confinement in a federal prison. The sentence imposed by Judge Hurley will not begin until after Danforth completes his earlier federal sentence.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the United States Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ann Marie C. Villafana.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. 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.
