Former Naval Police Officer Sentenced for Making Threats in Interstate Commerce

BOSTON – A former naval police officer at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire was sentenced on May 18, 2023 in federal court in Boston for making threatening communications to his ex-wife and her mother in Iowa.

Luis De Leon, 30, of Middleton, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release. On March 8, 2023, De Leon pleaded guilty to three counts of making threats in interstate commerce. 

On or about April 30, 2022, De Leon made a threatening phone call to his ex-wife in Iowa from a mobile telephone belonging to another individual. Specifically, during the call, De Leon made several threatening statements including, “You’re gonna f****** pay! Do you understand!? There will be death! There will be war in the street! You wanna to go war!? I’ll take you to f****** war!”

Between May and June 2022, De Leon sent two letters containing threats to his ex-wife’s mother in Iowa. In the letters, De Leon wrote, among other things, “I’ll be heading over there soon […] God help you and your dysfunctional family if you try and stop me. I won’t be alone either just so you know and that’s for your safety NOT MINE!!! […] If you don’t believe me just look where I’m sending this from. I don’t really have much else to lose, and do you know what men with nothing left to lose usually do?”

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy H. Kistner of Levy’s National Security Unit prosecuted the case.