Man convicted for 4th time of sending threats to officers, journalists

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A Connecticut man with a historical past of writing threats to public officers, together with a U.S. president and a Supreme Court justice, has been convicted for a fourth time after prosecutors say he mailed greater than 100 further threatening letters.

Garrett Santillo, 43, pleaded responsible Thursday in U.S. District Court to a single depend of mailing threatening communications to a United States decide.

Prosecutors say that between December 2021 and June 2022, Santillo who lived in each Florida and Hamden, Connecticut, mailed letters to politicians, journalists, and judges, together with a U.S. Supreme Court justice, that included threats similar to, “You will die. You will all be killed.”

Many of the letters to journalists talked about their protection of race-related points, prosecutors stated.

Santillo‘s convictions for sending threats date again to 2003, prosecutors stated. He served 5 years of probation after an identical conviction in 2016.

When authorities searched his residence in Florida in 2014, they discovered a number of handwritten letters, together with one to President Barack Obama during which he threatened to kill the president, based on courtroom paperwork.

His attorneys have argued Santillo suffers from psychological well being and cognitive points.

A sentencing date is just not scheduled. Santillo has been free on a $100,000 bond since his arrest on July 6, 2022.