BRIDGEPORT, CT – Mandel Bidone, 34, formerly of Bridgeport, will likely spend a significant portion of his life behind bars after a federal jury convicted him today of mailing a terrifying threat against Yale University. The conviction stems from a series of increasingly unhinged communications sent while Bidone was already in state custody, detailing plans for a campus shooting should his legal grievances be ignored.
According to evidence presented in court, Bidone’s obsession with Yale began in April 2022, when he filed a frivolous civil complaint against “Yale New Haven Inc.” and other entities, claiming he was subjected to an illegal clinical trial. He sought compensatory and punitive damages, but the case was quickly dismissed in October 2022. This didn’t deter Bidone; instead, it fueled his rage.
In March 2023, Bidone doubled down, mailing another complaint to the U.S. District Court Clerk’s Office in New Haven. This wasn’t a simple legal filing. The complaint, spread across eight separate envelopes, contained a chilling addendum scrawled across the top of each page: a direct threat to unleash violence on the Yale campus. The exact wording varied, but the message was clear: “If the District Court dismisses this case or looses (sic) any one of the pages of this complaint, Mandel Bidone will purchase an illegal firearm and discharge it on Yale’s campus aiming for the students and staff until his is gunned down.”
The U.S. Marshals Service didn’t stop at the court filings. Investigators discovered Bidone had expanded his campaign of terror, sending letters to the City of New Haven, the New Haven Police Department, and even a local news affiliate, consistently reiterating his threat against Yale, its students, and faculty. This wasn’t just a desperate attempt to win a lawsuit; it was a calculated effort to instill fear and potentially incite a mass casualty event.
United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, David X. Sullivan, announced the guilty verdict. Bidone now faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for the charge of mailing a threatening communication. He remains detained pending sentencing, a date for which has not yet been scheduled. Grimy Times will continue to follow this case as it progresses.
The investigation was a collaborative effort, involving the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Yale Police Department, and the New Haven Police Department. Authorities are breathing a collective sigh of relief that Bidone is off the streets and that his twisted plot was uncovered before he could carry it out. This case serves as a stark reminder of the real-world consequences of online and mailed threats, and the importance of taking them seriously.
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Key Facts
- State: Connecticut
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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