South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem; photo by Bart Pfankuch, South Dakota News Watch.
MIAMI, F.L. (KELO.com) – A Miami man has been sentenced to federal prison for posting online threats targeting Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Department of State Special Envoy Kristi Noem.
U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom sentenced Jon Christopher Enriquez, 47, of Miami, to 24 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to three counts of transmitting threats through interstate communications.
“Anyone who believes they can hide behind a keyboard while threatening to kill our nation’s leaders should think again,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Yara Lorenzo Klukas for the Southern District of Florida. “These are not harmless words. They are serious federal crimes with serious consequences. We will work relentlessly with our law enforcement partners to identify, prosecute, and bring to justice those who make such threats.”
According to court records, on May 27, Enriquez published three posts on the social media platform X threatening Secretary Rubio and Noem, who was then serving as Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas. The threats were made in three separate public posts over the course of the afternoon. Among other things, the posts threatened that both officials would be executed at specific times.
Acting U.S. Attorney Lorenzo Klukas and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security and Director of the Diplomatic Security Service Nicholas Collura made the announcement.
The Diplomatic Security Service investigated the case, with assistance from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the City of Miami Police Department, and the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Y. Carré prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 26-cr-20239.
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