Contact: Craig M. Wolff
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 771-3237

Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Michael R.
Thomas, 52, of Portland, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Portland by Judge D. Brock
Hornby to 71 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release for threatening members of Congress,
mailing a threatening communication, interstate stalking, and possessing a firearm after being convicted
of a felony. Thomas pled guilty to the charges on June 27, 2012.

According to court records, in 2010 and 2011 Thomas sent letters threatening to kill U.S.
Senator Joseph Lieberman, U.S. Representative Steve King and Maine Governor Paul LePage. The letter
to Senator Lieberman stated in part, “YOU ARE A TREASONOUS TRAITOR & SHOULD BE SHOT DEAD … IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL YOU RECEIVE CONSTITUTIONAL JUSTICE AT THE POINT OF A GUN …” The letter to Rep. King stated in part, “YOU ARE A TREASONOUS TRAITOR & SHOULD BE SHOT DEAD … BLESSED BE THE DAY OF VENGEANCE. YOU WILL BE STRUCK DOWN BY A TRUSTED HAND.” The letter to Governor LePage stated in part, “I DID NOT VOTE FOR YOU AND AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED YOU ARE NOT MY GOVERNOR. NOW I’M READY TO VOTE WITH A BULLET. YES. THANK GOD FOR OUR SECOND AMENDMENT REMEDIES. I’VE GOT YOU IN MY CROSS-HAIRS, BITCH.”

From 2006 to 2011, Thomas sent a series of harassing and threatening letters to a victim in
Massachusetts with the intent to cause substantial emotional distress to the victim. Some of the letters
threatened to harm the victim and his family, and other letters falsely claimed that the victim had
engaged in criminal activity.

In March of 2011, agents executing a search warrant at Thomas’s residence in Portland found a
.45 caliber pistol in his bedroom. Thomas was prohibited from possessing the firearm under federal law
because of a prior felony stalking conviction in Massachusetts.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the United States
Postal Inspection Service; the U.S. Capitol Police; the Maine State Police; and the Danvers,
Massachusetts Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Wolff prosecuted the case for the
government.

 

 

 

 

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