California man who sent death threats to Ajit Pai gets 20 months in prison
Markara Man, 33, pleaded guilty to sending emails threatening to kill the FCC chairman's family over the repeal of net neutrality.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai speaking at the National Press Club in October.
A man who sent emails threatening to kill the family of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has been sentenced to more than one and a half years in prison.
Markara Man, 33, of Norwalk, California, sent emails in late 2017 alleging that Pai had caused a minor's suicide by repealing net neutrality regulations and threatening to kill Pai's family, officials said.
He also sent an email containing an image of Pai and his family, officials said.
Man pleaded guilty to sending the emails in August.
"Online threats of violence have real-world consequences," G. Zachary Terwilliger, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement on Friday. "Threatening to actually kill a federal official's family because of a disagreement over policy is not only inexcusable, it is criminal."
Sentencing minutes posted by Ars Technica (PDF) show he was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
(If you're in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741).
