Holyoke Man Sentenced For Threatening To Kill A Federal Prosecutor

BOSTON - A Holyoke man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for threatening to murder a federal prosecutor.

Carlos Maldonado, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 50 months in prison, 30 months to be served concurrent to a federal sentence he is currently serving, and 20 months to be served consecutively, and three years of supervised release. The government recommended a sentence of 84 months to be served consecutively.

U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling said, “Anyone who threatens a federal prosecutor will be aggressively prosecuted. Threats against prosecutors - like threats against judges, defense attorneys, or other actors in the court system - are an attack on the criminal justice system itself, and so we will never let them stand.”

“Threatening anyone in the law enforcement family, whether it be a police officer, Special Agent, analyst or prosecutor, is not only an attack on an individual but the entire criminal justice system,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Office. “The FBI takes all threats against law enforcement extremely seriously and we will work with our partners to bring those who set out to undermine their safety to justice.”

“The United States Marshals Service will not tolerate anyone who threatens any of our protectees to include members of the United States Attorney’s Office,” said United States Marshal John Gibbons of the District of Massachusetts. “Our office is committed to the integrity and preservation of the judicial process and we will continue to vigorously investigate such threats.”  

In May 2019, Maldonado pleaded guilty to threatening to murder an Assistant U.S. Attorney in retaliation for the federal prosecutor’s performance of his official duties. Maldonado was charged on April 26, 2019.  Maldonado admitted that, in March 2018, he had written and sent a letter from a federal detention facility, where he was awaiting trial on federal charges for cocaine distribution, to the federal prosecutor responsible for prosecuting the charges against him. In that letter, Maldonado threatened to murder the Assistant U.S. Attorney, as well as the prosecutor’s family.

Maldonado is presently serving a 42-month federal sentence, a compilation of a 30-month sentence for cocaine distribution in 2016, and a consecutive 12-month sentence for his violation of supervised release conditions related to a prior conviction for distributing heroin in 2014.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and John Gibbons, United States Marshal for the District of Massachusetts, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg A. Friedholm of Lelling’s Worcester Branch Office prosecuted the case.