COLUMBUS, Ohio - Shawn R. Marshall, 40, formerly of Akron, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 46 months in prison for mailing threatening communications from prison.
In 2016, Marshall was incarcerated with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction in Lucasville, Ohio, serving a 16-year sentence for rape and kidnapping.
According to court documents, in April 2016, Marshall mailed a letter to a judge in Hamilton, Ohio, which contained the following threat: “In the name of Allah, I am going to hunt you down and cut your f***ing head off." The letter was signed, “ISIS."
In June 2016, Marshall mailed a second threatening letter, this time to the Ohio Supreme Court, threatening to rape the female justices on the Court. Marshall included a drawing of an anarchist symbol that matches a tattoo on his chest, and also put bodily fluids wrapped in plastic in the envelope to help identify himself and make the threat more credible. DNA testing confirmed the bodily fluids belonged to Marshall.
During law enforcement interviews, Marshall also admitted to sending threats to media outlets in Dayton and Cincinnati. Additionally, he admitted sending a letter to a Cleveland, Ohio, courthouse that included a mouse head.
Vipal J. Patel, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Chris Hoffman, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. Assistant Deputy Criminal Chief Jessica W. Knight is representing the United States in this case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
