Mississippi Resident Charged with Threats Against the President and with other Threatening Communications

OXFORD, Miss. B Felicia C. Adams, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, and Daniel McMullen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Mississippi, announce:

Paul Kevin Curtis,age 45, of Corinth, Mississippi,has been arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with (1) knowingly depositing for conveyance in the mail and for  delivery from any post office any letter, paper, writing or document containing threats to take the life of or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 871; and (2) knowingly depositing and causing to be delivered by the Postal Service according to the directions thereon, communications addressed to other persons, and containing a threat to injure the person of others, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 876(c). If convicted on these charges, Curtis faces maximum possible penalties of 15 years imprisonment,$500,000 in fines and 3 years of supervised release.

Curtis is expected to appear in the United States District Court in Oxford, Mississippi, later today, Thursday, April 18, 2013, before U. S. Magistrate Judge S. Allan Alexander. The arrest is based on federal charges.  A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

The arrest resulted from a cooperative investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Mississippi and Memphis Joint Terrorism Task Forces, the United States Secret Service, the U. S. Postal Inspection Service, the U. S. Capitol Police,the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Northern District of Mississippi and the Western District of Tennessee,and the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, assisted by the following state and local agencies: Mississippi National Guard 47th Civil Support, Mississippi Office of Homeland Security, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Prentiss County Sheriff’s Office, Corinth Police Department, Tupelo Police Department and Booneville Police Department.

The public should be assured that the threat of danger has been averted.  However, the public is reminded to be vigilant in alerting any suspicious letters or activity to the appropriate authorities.