An American man has been sentenced to 13 months in prison for making more than 12,000 harassing and threatening calls to the offices of congressional legislators.
Ade Salim Lilly, 35, pleaded guilty in May, admitting to the court that he made the calls between February 2022 and November 2023.
He attempted to contact 54 members of Congress, both in their state offices and in their offices in Washington DC. He threatened to kill at least one employee.
The federal judge handling Lilly’s case also sentenced her to three years of supervised release after she completes her prison sentence.
Over the course of two days in February 2023, Lilly called one attorney more than 500 times.
Most of his interactions were with congressional staffers or interns, officials said.
In one call, he threatened an employee: “I will kill you, I will blow you up, I will kill you with a bomb or a grenade.”
Lilly, a resident of Queens, New York, was arrested in November 2023 after moving to Puerto Rico.
Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger testified in court last year that the harassment campaign coincided with a 400% increase in threats against members of Congress over the past six years.
Lilly pleaded guilty in May to communicating in a public place with a threat to kidnap or harm and making repeated calls.
Prosecutors had sought an 18-month sentence, writing in the sentencing letter that the current election cycle creates a risk that these threats “may become commonplace”.
On Tuesday, Chief Manger, whose force protects members of Congress and the Capitol, issued a statement saying: “We will use the law whenever someone crosses the line from free speech to harassment or threats.”
Lilly’s intentions and intentions are unclear, according to public records.
Speaking to the court during his sentencing on Tuesday, he said: “My aim has always been to do the best for our future generations.”
The judge commented on the recent spate of violent attacks on politicians, citing Donald Trump’s assassination attempts and the hammer attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
“We have a serious problem on our hands,” he said before handing down the sentence.
Source link
