Prison Time For FL Man Who Threatened 3 Members Of Congress: DOJ

Sarasota FL

30 March, 2022

12:11 PM

Description

VENICE, FL — A 73-year-old Venice man convicted of making threatening calls to three members of U.S. Congress has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison. Frank Anthony Pezzuto, who was found guilty in November, will also have to pay a $7,500 fine, according to a Department of Justice news release. Though the DOJ's news release only identified the targeted Congress members by their initials — E.S., I.O. and A.S. — Democrats Rep. Eric Swalwell of California and Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota both tweeted in November that they were among those threatened. According to evidence presented at trial, Pezzuto made three threatening phone calls from his Venice home to certain congressional offices in Washington, D.C. The first call took place on Jan. 25, 2020, when he left a voicemail at the office of Congressmen E.S. — likely Swalwell, who shares those initials — and said he was coming to kill the representative. Pezzuto made a second call on Jan. 30, 2020, leaving a message for Congressman A.S., who hasn't been publicly identified, that he worked for MS-13 and that MS-13 was coming to cut off the politician's head. The final call was made Feb. 3, 2020, when Pezzuto called the office of Congresswoman I.O., likely Omar, who shares those initials. According to the DOJ, he told the person who answered the phone, "Tell her I'm going to kill her today." Each time Pezzuto made these threatening calls, he used his cell phone, but concealed his phone number and attempted to disguise his voice. U.S. Capitol police were able to identify Pezzuto as the caller and confirm that the calls had been routed through a cell tower near his home in Florida.