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Press Release

Stiles Unit Inmate Sentenced For Threatening U.S. President

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Texas

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs

                BEAUMONT, Texas – A 26-year-old Cooper, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for making threats against the President of the United States of America in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales.

               Joseph Scott Sword, also known as Stretch, pleaded guilty on Dec. 19, 2012, to making threats against the President and was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark.

               According to information presented in court, on May 31, 2011, Sword, who was incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), Stiles Unit, located in Jefferson County, Texas, wrote a letter threatening the President and First Family.  Sword stated that he was a member of a violent street gang called the Black P Stone and that he had men on the street watching the President and his family.  Sword was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 18, 2012.

               Sword must complete the remainder of his state prison sentences of 8 years for burglary and 6 ½ years for robbery before he will be transferred to federal prison to begin serving this 46 month sentence. 

                This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall L. Fluke.

Updated March 12, 2015