Thursday, December 22, 2011

Tennessee Man Pleads Guilty to Making Threatening Calls to Virginia Congressman

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Glendon Swift, 62, of Lenoir City, Tenn., pleaded guilty today to making threats against Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., and his family.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Michael F. A. Morehart, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, made the announcement.

Pursuant to a Rule 20 consent to transfer jurisdiction, Swift pled guilty today in the Eastern District of Tennessee to threatening a family member of a federal official. The defense and government jointly recommended in the plea agreement a prison sentence of 13 months. He will be formally sentenced on April 4, 2012.

According to court documents, an unknown male left two voice-mail messages with Rep. Cantor’s Glen Allen, Va., office the evening of Oct. 27, 2011. The screaming, profanity-laden messages stated that the caller was going to destroy Rep. Cantor, rape his daughter and kill his wife. A Congressional staff member retrieved the messages, alerted the U.S. Capitol Police, which sought the assistance of the FBI to identify and locate the individual who made the calls.

Swift was identified as the individual who subscribed to the phone number used to make the call. He was arrested without incident on Nov. 2, 2011 by the FBI in Knoxville and the Lenoir City Police Department after having been interviewed by law enforcement.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Richmond and Knoxville Field Offices, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the Lenoir City Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jamie L. Mickelson is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.

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