A Maine resident was sentenced Wednesday to almost 6 years in federal prison for mailing letters to Congress threatening to kill government officials that included U.S. Senator and Stamford native Joseph Lieberman, the United States Attorney's Office announced Wednesday evening.
Michael R. Thomas, 52, of Portland, was sentenced Wednesday to 71 months in prison and three years supervised release on charges that included threatening members of Congress, mailing a threatening communication, interstate stalking, and possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony.
Thomas was accused of sending letters in 2010 and 2011 threatening to kill Lieberman, U.S. Representative Steve King and Maine Governor Paul LePage. According to authorities, part of Lieberman's letter read:
“You are a treasonous traitor & should be shot dead … it is only a matter of time until you receive constitutional justice at the point of a gun …”
Thomas pleaded guilty to the charges on June 27, 2012.
The U.S. Attorney's Office also said from 2006 to 2011, Thomas sent a series of harassing and threatening letters to a victim in Massachusetts with the intent to cause substantial emotional distress to the victim. Some of the letters threatened to harm the victim and his family, and other letters falsely claimed that the victim had engaged in criminal activity, according to authorities.
In March of 2011, agents executing a search warrant at Thomas’s residence in Portland said they discovered a .45 caliber pistol in his bedroom. Thomas was prohibited from possessing the firearm under federal law because of a prior felony stalking conviction in Massachusetts.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Capitol Police, the Maine State Police and the Danvers, Mass. Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Wolff prosecuted the case for the government.
