UPDATE: According to authorities, on Friday, January 21, 2022, 60-year-old Paul Vernon Hoeffer pled guilty in federal court in Ft. Pierce to making threatening phone calls to two members of Congress and a district attorney. U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon will sentence Hoeffer on April 1, at 11:00 a.m., in Ft. Pierce where he faces up to 15 years in federal prison.
Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – This past week, 60-year-old Paul Vernon Hoeffer was arraigned in federal court in West Palm Beach on charges that he called and threatened to injure two members of Congress, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, and her colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. and a district attorney.
The indictment charges Hoeffer with three counts of interstate transmission of threats to injure. According to allegations made by prosecutors during a court hearing, in March 2019, Hoeffer called a congresswoman in Washington, D.C., and threatened to come a “long, long, way” to rattle her head with bullets and cut her head off. On the same day, Hoeffer called a district attorney in the State of Illinois, telling her bullets were going to “rattle her brain,” it is alleged. In November 2020, Hoeffer called another congresswoman, this time in New York. Hoeffer told her that he would “rip her head off” and cautioned her to sleep with one eye open, according to allegations made by prosecutors.
If convicted, Hoeffer faces a total of up to 15 years in prison. Hoeffer pled not guilty during the arraignment. His trial is set to start during the two-week period beginning January 18, 2022. Particular trial dates will be addressed during calendar call before U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon on January 11, 2022.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami, made the announcement. FBI Miami investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Luisa Honora Berti is prosecuting it.
An indictment is a charging instrument containing allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
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