Santa Rosa County Inmate Sentenced to 8 Years in Federal Prison for Anthrax Threat to Judge

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Craig T. Pope, 30, was sentenced to 8 years in federal prison today, consecutive to a state sentence currently being served, after pleading guilty June 7 to mailing threatening communications and threatened use of a weapon of mass destruction.  The sentence was announced by Christopher P. Canova, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

In April and May 2017, Pope, while serving a state prison sentence for crimes out of Hillsborough County, sent two threatening letters from the Santa Rosa Correctional Institution to a Hillsborough County judge who presided over his plea and/or post conviction matters.

The first letter stated: “You have exactly 48 hours to get me back in court or someone in your courtroom will die and not only that, there will be an outbreak of anthrax in your courthouse who knows where I will send it first . . . time is ticking.”

The second letter stated: “here is a gift of Anthrax and when you receive this letter you will have exactly 4 hours before the courthouse explodes.  The bomb is already in place, your security is no match to my brotherhood.  Today you will understand that America will never be as powerful as my ISIS Family.”  The letter contained a white powder, which triggered the Tampa Fire Rescue Hazardous Materials Response Team to respond to the courthouse and secure the evidence and potential weapon of mass destruction.  Testing eventually provided a negative response for a biothreat, but all security protocols were initiated for those who could have been contaminated.

This case resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and the Tampa Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney David L. Goldberg prosecuted the case.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General.  To access available public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website.  For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.