A New York man was sentenced to three months in prison this week for making threatening phone calls to the office of congressional Rep. Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene in Washington.
Joseph Morelli, 51, of Endicott, admitted earlier this year to leaving a series of harassing voicemail messages addressed to Republicans in March of last year.
Federal Judge Brenda K. Sannes handed down the sentence in Syracuse on Thursday.
“I have to take your life into my own hands … I’m going to hurt you. Physically, I will harm you,” Morelli said in a threatening message left on March 3, 2022, according to prosecutors.
A second voicemail message the same day said, in part, “I have to show you, right in front of you, right up front, what violence really is, and I don’t think you’re going to like it … I can pay someone 500 dollars to pick up a baseball bat and crack your skull … You’re going to get f–king physical injuries.”
In the third call, Morelli said, “You’re going to hurt people, so I’m going to have to physically hurt you … I’m going to make sure, even if they lock me up, somebody’s going to catch you ’cause I’m going to pay them, too.”
Morelli was indicted in April 2022 on three counts of sending threatening interstate communications and pleaded guilty to those charges in February.
“I have to take your life into my own hands … I’m going to hurt you. Physically, I will hurt you,” Morelli said in a voicemail he left at Greene’s office in Washington, DC.REUTERS
Greene isn’t the only person Morelli has been accused of threatening.
Sannes noted at his sentencing that Morelli had previously threatened former Judge Joseph J. Cassata and others, according to The Post-Standard.
Assistant US Attorney Richard Southwick argued in court that he had exhibited aggressive behavior in the past and was “seeking confrontation with authorities.”
Greene is seeking $66,632 in damages from Morelli, arguing that his threats forced her to increase security at her Georgia home, including adding more than 1,200 feet of fencing and upgrading security cameras on the property.
Sannes deferred a decision on the restitution matter.
Greene’s office did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
