A St. Louis man was sentenced to 77 months in prison for threatening to kill a federal law enforcement officer, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today.
W.T. Cortez Lakes, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of threatening to assault or murder federal officers and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The charges stem from an incident on November 24, 2018, when Lakes boarded a MetroLink train without a valid ticket. Officers from the St. Louis County Police Department removed Lakes from the train for failing to produce a valid ticket. Lakes began acting suspicious while on the train platform and was repeatedly reaching into his pant pockets. As officers tried to do a pat-down search, Lakes turned and ran onto the railroad tracks. He left his backpack behind. A subsequent search of the backpack found a 9mm caliber semi-automatic handgun. It was loaded with 16 rounds and contained a magazine with a capacity for 18 rounds.
Lakes, who was a convicted felon, called his probation officer to report the law enforcement contact on November 26, 2018. He admitted to her that he was in possession of the firearm. Over the next eight days, Lakes became increasingly agitated and stated that he thought his supervision was going to be revoked. On December 3, 2018, Lakes left a voicemail with his probation officer, stating that he was "not going back to prison." He warned, "When y’all come for me make sure y’all have your shit locked and loaded," and "When y’all come don’t have y’all guns in your holsters cause I’m shooting, I’m shooting, I swear to God. I’m not playing man cause I’m not going back to prison."
In making these threats, Lakes was threatening his probation officer and any officers of the United States Marshals Service who may come to arrest him on a supervised release revocation warrant.
"Simply, our office will not tolerate threats or violence directed toward those who have committed their lives to protecting our communities," said Sayler A. Fleming, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. "Should you engage in such actionable behavior, we will aggressively and relentlessly prosecute you to fullest extent of the law."
Lakes was sentenced to 77 months in prison by United States District Judge Ronnie L. White. He will serve his sentence at the Bureau of Prisons.
Key Facts
- State: Missouri
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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