Igor Lira, Transmitting Threatening Communication, Maryland 2022

A chilling threat sent over the internet has landed a Slovakia national in hot water. Igor Lira, 40, is facing federal charges for allegedly transmitting a threatening communication containing a threat to injure.

According to the indictment, on August 10, 2022, Lira threatened a senior investigator from the National Institutes of Health, stating, ‘You f*cking animal abuser, I’ll find and kill you, b*tch. I’ll drill your f*cking brain off, and I’ll film it, so everyone can watch. You don’t deserve anything else. Your days are counted.’

Lira made his initial appearance in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland today after he was extradited from Germany.

Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the indictment with Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

If convicted, Lira faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge determines sentencing after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. The individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent until proven guilty at a later criminal proceeding.

U.S. Attorney Barron commended the Public Prosecutor General’s Office (Generalstaatsanwaltschaft) in Düsseldorf, which handled Lira’s extradition before the courts in Germany, and Germany’s Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz), its central authority for all international extraditions. Additionally, the U.S. Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing Lira’s extradition from Germany.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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