Denver Man Pleads Guilty for Making Violent Threats Against Locations in Tulsa and Pryor
A Denver man pleaded guilty Wednesday to making multiple threats of violence against county, federal and Shriners employees in northeastern Oklahoma from April 24, 2017 to Aug. 8, 2017, announced U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.
Jose Rawdon Trujillo, 44, of Denver, Colorado, pleaded guilty to interstate communication of a threat and to making threats to injure by means of explosives. U.S. District Judge Gregory K. Frizzell accepted the plea and set sentencing for Oct. 4, 2019.
“Whether through the use of a cell phone or social media, spewing violent and terroristic threats has real world consequences. Mr. Trujillo learned this the hard way. He made nine threats of violence to individuals and organizations in northern Oklahoma. He threatened to ‘blow the Sheriff’s Office up like 9/11’ and to cut Akdar Shrine employees from ‘ear to ear,’” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. “Protecting our communities in northeastern Oklahoma is my highest priority. If you make violent or terroristic threats on social media, then we will take you at your word and prosecute accordingly. I encourage victims who have been violently threatened or cyberstalked via social media to report these crimes to law enforcement before there is an escalation to physical violence.”
Trujillo pleaded guilty to nine counts according to court documents.
Count One: April 24, 2017. Interstate Communication of a Threat. Communicating threats by cell phone to blow up the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) and to cut the throats and heads off any officer who came to him.
Count Two: April 24, 2017. Threatening to Injure by Means of Explosive. By cell phone, threatened to kill, injure and intimidate individuals employed by the TCSO and to destroy their building by means of explosives.
Count Three: May 3, 2017. Threatening to Injure by Means of Explosive. By cell phone, threatened to kill, injure, and intimidate an employee of the U.S. Marshals Service and to destroy the federal courthouse in Tulsa by means of explosives.
Count Four: June 21, 2017. Threatening to Injure by Means of Explosive. By cell phone, threatened to kill, injure, and intimidate employees at the Akdar Shrine office building in Tulsa and destroy their building by means of explosives.
Count Five: June 21, 2017. Interstate Communication of a Threat. Used social media to threaten Akdar Shrine employees by stating he might cut them from “ear to ear” and “gut” them.
Count Six: June 27, 2017. Threatening to Injure by Means of Explosive. By cell phone, threatened to kill, injure, and intimidate employees of the U.S. Court Clerk’s Office and destroy the federal courthouse in Tulsa by means of explosives.
Count Seven: July, 10, 2017. Threatening to Injure by Means of Explosive. By cell phone, threatened to kill, injure, and intimidate employees of the Mayes County Sheriff’s Office and to destroy their building in Pryor by means of explosives.
Count Eight: Aug. 3, 2017. Interstate Communication of a Threat. Communicating a threat using a cell phone to kill a TCSO employee and his or her family.
Count Nine: Aug. 8, 2017. Threatening to Injure by Means of Explosive. By cell phone, threatened to kill, injure, and intimidate employees of the TCSO and destroy their building by means of explosives.
In August 2017, an arrest warrant was issued for Trujillo, and law enforcement was alerted to be on the look-out for the suspect. On Aug. 21, 2017, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper stopped Trujillo traveling eastbound on Interstate 44. At that time, Trujillo was taken into custody.
The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Allen J. Litchfield is prosecuting the case. AUSA Litchfield is the Chief of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Oklahoma.
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