DEFENDANT SENTENCED TO MORE THAN 27 YEARS FOR THREATENING FEDERAL PROSECUTOR AND ANTHRAX HOAX

FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill.—Charles E. Fuller, 39, currently incarcerated in the Federal Correctional Institution at Pekin, Ill., was sentenced in Indianapolis in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Indiana to more than 27 years in prison for two offenses related to his threatening of an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Acting U.S. Attorney Randy G. Massey for the Southern District of Illinois announced today. Fuller pled guilty to one count of mailing a threatening communication and one count of threatening the use of a weapon of mass destruction (Anthrax) immediately prior to his sentencing. He was charged with those offenses by a Grand Jury on Dec. 20, 2005.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, Fuller was ordered to pay a fine of $500 and a special assessment of $200 to the United States and was placed on a term of 5 years supervised release to follow his incarceration.

Information presented at the sentencing hearing revealed that in June 2004, Fuller was serving a sentence of imprisonment for Threatening the Life of the President of the United States which had been imposed in the Southern District of Indiana. On June 21, 2004, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Indianapolis received an envelope addressed to the Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) who prosecuted Fuller on that charge which contained a letter and a white powdery substance. In the letter, Fuller claimed that the white powder was the biological agent Anthrax and was being sent to “get [the AUSA’s] attention . . . ” Fuller further demanded $250,000 in cash from the AUSA and a false letter from her admitting that the AUSA had lied and used false information in order to obtain Fuller’s conviction. Fuller further threatened that associates of his outside of prison were “going to start killing off members of [the AUSA’s] family until you comply.” After numerous law enforcement agencies responded, including agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the Indiana State Police, and the Indiana Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal, field tests were conducted which determined that the white powder was not Anthrax. Fingerprint and handwriting analysis showed that the envelope and letter had been authored and sent by Fuller.

The 327 month sentence of imprisonment was imposed consecutively to a 77 month sentence which Fuller began serving in September 2006 for the offense of Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury which resulted from Fuller’s stabbing of a fellow inmate at FCI-Pekin five times with a six inch ice pick. Under federal law, parole has been abolished and Fuller will be required to serve a minimum of 85% of both sentences.

Investigation into the case was conducted by agents of the Federal Protective Service, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Because an attorney in its office was the target of the threats contained in the letter, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana was recused from the investigation and prosecution of the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois was assigned to prosecute the case. Michael C. Carr and James M. Cutchin, who serve as Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the Southern District of Illinois, were assigned to prosecute the case.