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Pensacola Man Found Guilty of Threatening Federal Judge
In a shocking turn of events, a jury in the Northern District of Florida has found Christopher Summers, 58, an inmate at the Florida Department of Corrections, guilty of mailing threatening communications to a federal judge.
The conviction was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. According to the U.S. Attorney, Summers sent a handwritten letter addressed to a Federal District Judge at the Federal Courthouse in Pensacola, Florida in October 2024.
The letter, which was written in part, stated: ‘I am writing this letter to you in hopes that you will know what it feels like to be helpless when you know for fact that you’re going to either be beaten so badly you’ll never function like a normal person again, or be killed.’
Court documents and evidence presented at trial revealed that Summers told another inmate of his desire to have the Judge killed and that mental health therapy did not include threatening letters.
The jury swiftly returned a guilty verdict, with Summers facing up to 10 years’ imprisonment. Sentencing is scheduled for August 6, 2026, before United States District Court Judge T. Kent Wetherell, II, in Pensacola, Florida.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is committed to aggressively prosecuting those who threaten public officials, and this case is a prime example of that commitment. ‘When threatening statements exceed the legal bounds of constitutional Free Speech, my office will not hesitate to aggressively prosecute those criminal threats to ensure they do not have the opportunity to ripen into acts of violence.’
The conviction was the result of a joint investigation by the United States Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Florida Department of Corrections Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph A. Ravelo is prosecuting the case.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General.
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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