Kenai resident Arther Graham, 46, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to making interstate threats to kidnap and injure a sitting U.S. Senator. He was arrested and charged with the crime in October, later indicted by a grand jury on the same charge in November.
Court documents in November said that Graham had in September used a submission form on an unnamed senator’s website to write that his “plan” is to “hunt” the senator because he was being evicted from his home. Identifying information sent with the email was connected to Graham, and he was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigations at his home in Kenai.
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office says that Graham pleaded guilty in Anchorage. Sentencing is set for Oct. 1, where Graham will face up to five years in prison.
“Threats of violence against public servants are abhorrent and unacceptable, and as this plea makes clear, the Justice Department will not tolerate them,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland says in the release. “Our democracy depends on the ability of members of Congress to do their jobs without fearing for their safety. The Justice Department will continue to do anything in our power to protect those who serve the public and hold accountable those who endanger them.”
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
