Massachusetts Man Agrees to Plead Guilty to Sending Threatening Letters Containing Suspicious White Powder

BOSTON – A Beverly, Mass., man agreed to plead guilty today in connection with mailing six threatening letters containing suspicious white powder to high-profile individuals and to sending another seven threatening letters to law enforcement officials and others.

Daniel Frisiello, 25, has agreed to plead guilty to 13 counts of mailing a threat to injure the person of another and six counts of false information and hoaxes. On March 1, 2018, Frisiello was arrested and charged with five counts of mailing a threat to injure and five counts of false information and hoaxes. He has since remained in home detention under restrictions.

Law enforcement originally connected Frisiello to mailing five high-profile individuals around the country an envelope that contained suspicious white powder and a note indicating that the powder was dangerous or intended to cause harm. There were notable commonalities among the envelopes, including a Boston postmark.  Further investigation revealed that one victim had also received a “glitter bomb,” that is, an envelope containing glitter sent to an unsuspecting individual that, when opened, spills out onto the recipient. Law enforcement traced financial records to Frisiello, who had ordered and paid for the glitter bomb to be delivered to the victim. Furthermore, agents recovered trash from Frisiello’s residence that appeared to contain remnants of the cut-out messages that Frisiello sent to some victims.

Frisiello also sent a white-powder letter to members of the First Family during the 2016 presidential campaign, which caused a significant hazardous material response by law enforcement. Additional evidence then demonstrated that Frisiello had sent multiple other threatening letters to other victims, including two letters in 2015 to the manager of a Massachusetts company that had recently terminated one of Frisiello’s family members, and five letters in 2016 and 2017 to members of law enforcement in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

The charge of mailing a threat to injure the person of another provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, or 10 years in prison for threats addressed to a federal official, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of false information and hoaxes provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Raymond Moss, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; Stephen Marks, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Boston Field Office and Beverly Police Chief John G. LeLacheur made the announcement today. This investigation was conducted by the FBI Boston Division’s Joint Terrorism Task Force led by members of the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Secret Service and the Beverly Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Garland of Lelling’s National Security Unit is prosecuting the case.