A Florida inmate who repeatedly sent letters threatening to kill federal judges, U.S. Marshals, and prosecutors was sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison. Michael Dean Drew, 51, received the sentence during a hearing in Miami on August 19, marking his sixth conviction for sending threatening communications to federal officials.
Drew, who had previously been sentenced five times for similar offenses, sent a series of threatening letters from state prison in 2023, targeting federal judges, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, and federal law enforcement officers. His 240-month sentence will run consecutively to the sentence he is already serving.
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“The public officials who work to keep our country safe and uphold the rule of law should not have to fear for their lives or the lives of their families,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This sentence should make clear that the Justice Department has no tolerance for violence or threats of violence against public servants.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray also emphasized the gravity of the crime, stating, “Threatening those who work to ensure our safety strikes at the very heart of our society. This long sentence sends a strong message that we will take all measures to protect our public servants.”
According to court records, Drew’s threats were specific and graphic. In May 2023, he mailed a letter to a federal judge in Florida, stating the judge would meet a violent death for presiding over a particular case. In August and September of the same year, he sent additional letters to other federal judges, U.S. Marshals, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys in Virginia and Georgia, threatening to recruit gang members, including from the Aryan Nation, to carry out murders against these officials and their families.
Drew’s letters included chilling descriptions of how he intended to carry out the murders, expressing his “pleasure” at the thought of the victims suffering. In one letter, he wrote that a judge’s body would be “discarded as a piece of trash, thrown in a ditch.” He also vowed to recruit as many fellow inmates as possible into a violent plot against federal agents, declaring that their objective was to “murder as many U.S. Marshals as possible.”
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Drew pleaded guilty to five counts of mailing threatening communications in June 2024. The U.S. Marshals Service, alongside other federal agencies, underscored their commitment to protecting the judicial system and holding individuals accountable for attempts to intimidate public officials.
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