Yusif Lee Jones Pleads Guilty to Threatening D.C. Pizza Shop

A Louisiana man has pled guilty to making a violent threat against a Washington, D.C. pizzeria in the wake of a nationally publicized shooting at a nearby restaurant. Yusif Lee Jones, 52, of Shreveport, admitted to making a phone call to Besta Pizza in Northwest D.C., where he declared he was trying to “save the kids” and threatened to “shoot everyone in the place.” The call came just days after a gunman fired shots inside Comet Ping Pong, another D.C. pizzeria tied to baseless conspiracy theories.

Jones pleaded guilty on January 12, 2017, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana to one count of interstate threatening communications. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 12, 2017, by U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. Currently in custody since his arrest on December 22, 2016, Jones faces a statutory maximum of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, restitution, and a $250,000 fine.

According to federal prosecutors, Jones made the threatening call on December 7, 2016, directly referencing the chaos sparked by false online rumors of a child sex-trafficking ring operating out of D.C. eateries. No physical harm occurred at Besta Pizza, but the threat triggered an immediate investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, both of which traced the call to Shreveport.

Jones admitted to making the call during questioning by law enforcement. Though initially charged in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, the local case will be dismissed due to the ongoing federal prosecution in Louisiana. The move underscores the federal government’s willingness to step in when threats cross state lines, especially when they exploit volatile conspiracy narratives.

Channing D. Phillips, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and Stephanie A. Finley, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, jointly announced the plea. Prosecutors from the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys T. Patrick Martin, John Giovannelli, Demian S. Ahn, and Sonali D. Patel, assisted in the investigation, supported by Victim/Witness Advocates Yvonne Bryant and Karina Hernandez.

The case is now being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Flanagan in Louisiana. Authorities stress that threats like Jones’s—fueled by internet-fueled paranoia—pose real dangers to public safety, regardless of whether violence ultimately follows. The investigation highlights the expanding reach of federal law enforcement in confronting threats born online and delivered by phone across state lines.

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