San Francisco Man Charged with Making Harassing Phone Calls to a Government Official

April 8, 2010 - SAN FRANCISCO—A federal complaint filed today charged a San Francisco man with making harassing and threatening telephone calls to a government official, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello and FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephanie Douglas announced.

Gregory Lee Giusti, 48, was arraigned today in federal court on a complaint charging one count of a violation of 47 U.S.C. § 223.

“Vigorous expression of strongly held beliefs has always been recognized as protected speech. However, when someone crosses the line from engaging in legitimate protest to making threats to do harm, the government will act to stop those threats from being carried out and to bring those responsible for making them to justice,” said United States Attorney Russoniello. “According to the charges in the complaint, Mr. Giusti’s communications warranted our taking such action.”

The maximum statutory penalty for the charged count of making harassing and threatening telephone calls in violation of 47 U.S.C. § 223 is two years' imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Cynthia Frey is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Rosario Calderon. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI and the United States Capitol Police.

Please note, a complaint contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Mr. Giusti must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.