COLUMBUS, Ohio – Joseph Michael Bragg, 40, of Columbus
pleaded guilty to charges connected with at least a dozen threats he sent to a
sheriff in Oklahoma during a two-month period in 2018, and threatening a
Columbus FBI agent who came to Bragg’s residence to interview him.
Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the
Southern District of Ohio, and Todd A. Wickerham, Special Agent in Charge,
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the pleas
entered today before U.S. District Judge Michael Watson.
According to court documents, Bragg transmitted through
agency websites between June and July 2018 at least a dozen communications
which contained threats to violently injure Rogers County, Oklahoma Sheriff
Scott Walton and numerous other individuals in the state. On July 20, 2018, at
the request of the FBI office in Oklahoma, an FBI agent in Columbus went to
Bragg’s residence. Bragg came to the door, shouted profanities at the agent and
told the agent “you have no authority here” before going back inside. Bragg
came back to the door threatening to shoot and decapitate the agent. The agent
drew his weapon in defense. Authorities came back with a search warrant and
later arrested Bragg, who has been in custody since.
Bragg pleaded guilty to one count of transmitting a threat
in interstate commerce and one count of influencing a federal official by
threat. The plea agreement includes an agreed sentence of at least 12 months
imprisonment, which would include time served, and three years of supervised
release to include mental health treatment. Judge Watson will review the plea
agreement and determine a date for sentencing.
U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this
case by the agencies participating in the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, and
Assistant United States Attorney Jessica W. Knight, who is representing the
United States.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment