A Florida man was sentenced to two years in prison Wednesday for threatening to kill Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and his children, federal prosecutors announced.
Michael Shapiro, 72, was convicted during a hearing in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, nearly nine months after prosecutors said he left several threatening messages for Swalwell at his Washington office.
Shapiro, from his home in Greenacres, Florida, on December 19, left five voicemails at Swalwell’s Washington office, according to court documents. In three of the messages, Shapiro threatened to kill the California Democrat and his children, according to prosecutors.
Authorities said they linked Shapiro to the voicemails by tracing the number to his home in Florida and arrested him in January.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of transmitting threatening communications in May.
In one of the messages, Shapiro said he would “come after you and kill you…” and in another message, he said he would “come and kill your children…” according to court documents.
In some of the calls, Shapiro appeared to reference a suspected Chinese spy, Christine Fang, accused of having ties to Swalwell. Federal prosecutors said the calls included the word “Fang” several times and “Hey motherfucker, you son of a bitch, a Chinese spy.”
The House Ethics Committee conducted a two-year investigation into Fang’s alleged ties to Swalwell following reports that Fang worked on Swalwell’s campaign and targeted new politicians in California.
Swalwell confirmed to the FBI that he was targeted by a Chinese intelligence agent, but emphasized that he immediately cooperated with law enforcement authorities and was never accused of wrongdoing. Some of Swalwell’s political opponents used unfounded rumors to attack him, which later cost him his seat on the House Intelligence Committee.
Prosecutors said in January that Shapiro also pleaded guilty in federal court in 2019 to threatening another victim.
Swalwell has faced several threats in recent years, including in 2022 when one of his employees received a call from a man who said he was coming to Swalwell’s congressional office to kill him. In another case last year, Swalwell claimed a former NFL player threatened him with execution on social media.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
