Robert Lee Ingalls, Jr., Threatening a U.S. Congressman, Pennsylvania 2023

HARRISBURG – A Cumberland County man has been charged with sending threatening voicemail messages to a U.S. Congressman. Robert Lee Ingalls, Jr., 61, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, was indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of sending threatening communications via interstate transmission.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, Ingalls left two threatening voicemail messages on the main congressional office answering system in Washington, D.C. on November 6, 2023. In both voicemail messages, Ingalls specifically threatened to kill the same U.S. Congressman. Ingalls made the calls from his cell phone while in Hampden Township, Cumberland County.

The United States Capitol Police investigated the case, assisted locally by the Fairview Township Police Department and the York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney William Behe is prosecuting the case.

Ingalls was charged by criminal complaint and arrested on November 10, 2023. He appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Daryl F. Bloom on November 13, 2023, and was ordered held in pretrial detention pending action by a federal grand jury.

Ingalls faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Ingalls, who has not yet entered a plea, is presumed innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

Ingalls is currently being held in pretrial detention pending further action by a federal grand jury. The outcome of the case is pending and Ingalls faces a maximum 5-year prison term, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine if found guilty.