A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a man who threatened to kill National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci to more than three years in federal prison, the Justice Department said.
Driving the news: Thomas Patrick Connally, Jr., 57, was arrested last year in West Virginia for sending threatening emails to Fauci. He was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and then three years of supervised release.
- Connally was charged with making threats against a federal official and interstate communication with a threat to harm, the DOJ said in a news release.
Details: According to his plea agreement, Connally sent emails to Fauci threatening to hurt or kill him and his family.
- He sent the emails anonymously through an encrypted email service in Switzerland, the DOJ said.
- Connally's threats also targeted Francis Collins, who was the director of the National Institutes of Health at the time of the emails, as well as state health officials, per the DOJ.
Zoom in: One of the emails said Fauci's family would be “dragged into the street, beaten to death, and set on fire.”
- Another one of the threats read, "Hope you get a bullet in your compromised satanic skull today," according to the complaint obtained by CNN.
- A third email said Fauci would be “hunted, captured, tortured and killed,” AP reports.
- The emails also threatened Collins and his family with death if he continued to speak about “mandatory” COVID-19 vaccinations.
What they're saying: “Everyone has the right to disagree, but you do not have the right to threaten a federal official’s life,” Erek L. Barron, U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, said in the DOJ press release.
- “Threats like these will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Go deeper: Maryland man accused of threatening to kill Fauci and his family
