Pennsylvania Prison Inmate Sentenced To 30 Months In Prison For Sending Threatening Letter To District Judge In Philadelphia

TRENTON, N.J. – An inmate in the Pennsylvania State Prison system today was sentenced to 30 months in prison for sending a threatening letter to a federal judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

William Brown, 22, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson to Count 2 of an Indictment that charged him with threatening a U.S. District Court judge in Philadelphia. Judge Wolfson imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Brown, who is currently serving a sentence of life in prison for a 2011 Pennsylvania conviction for first-degree murder and aggravated assault, sent the threatening letter from his prison cell.  He admitted writing the letter, containing expletives and threats against the judge’s life, smearing his fecal matter on it and mailing it to the judge.

He was transferred to federal custody in June 2012 after the grand jury returned the Indictment in this case. 

In addition to the prison term, Judge Wolfson sentenced Brown to three years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI in Philadelphia, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George C. Venizelos, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.

The government is represented by Nelson Thayer, Attorney-in-Charge of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton. 

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Defense Counsel: Andrea Bergman Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Trenton