Frank Caporusso left a threatening voicemail for the D.C. federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn, and will serve 18 months in prison as a result.
“We are professionals. We are trained military people. We will be on rooftops. You will not be safe. A hot piece of lead will cut through your skull,” Caprousso could be heard saying when the voicemail he left in U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan’s chambers on May 14, 2020 was played in court on Monday.
“You bastard. You will be killed, and I don’t give a f— who you are. Back out of this bulls— before it’s too late, or we’ll start cutting down your staff. This is not a threat. This is a promise,” the Long Island resident continued.
Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden said Caprousso tried to “subvert the criminal justice system” by intimidating Judge Sullivan. He described how Caprousso threatened the judge and his staffers. “Your threat was despicable and it was calculated to instill a maximum amount of fear,” he remarked. “Judicial robes aren’t bulletproof.”
Caporusso blamed his addiction to painkillers stemming from an injury and heavy alcohol consumption for the call. “I was not thinking well or doing well at that time,” he said. “I could not be more sorry or remorseful for threatening Judge Sullivan and his staff and family, and ashamed that I have done such a thing.”
In April, Caporusso pleaded guilty to one count of influencing, impeding or retaliating against a federal official and has served 11 months in pre-trial detention since his August 2020 arrest. Based on time served, he could go free in the next four to five months.
Flynn pleaded guilty to “willfully and knowingly” making false statements to the FBI about Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December 2017, but withdrew his guilty plea two weeks before his sentencing in January 2020. Trump issued a presidential pardon to Flynn on November 25, 2020.
