John Milton Nagel, 47, was sentenced by United States District Judge Jose E. Martinez to one year and one day in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after having previously pled guilty to three counts of mailing threatening communications from a foreign country, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 877.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
According to court documents, between Sept. 1, 2015 and Sept. 18, 2015, John Nagel entered the Mexico City main post office located at Palacio Postal, Avenida Tacuba No. 1, Centro Historico, Delegacion Cuachtemoc, 06002 Mexico City, Mexico, and knowingly deposited for mailing thirty-seven (37) envelopes all addressed to prominent U.S. political figures and business leaders, each containing a threatening letter and a white powdery like substance. A sample of the powder removed from within the suspect letters was thereafter sent to both Mexican and U.S. laboratories for analysis, which ultimately revealed that the contents were bicarbonate. Nagel was identified and apprehended in Mexico by Mexican Postal employees and ultimately deported to the United States to stand trial.
The first page of each letter read “FREE SAMPLE OF EXECUTIVE TOOTH POWDER - ACTIVATES WITH HYDROGEN PEROXIDE. DO NOT SWALLOW! H2O2 MAY BE POISONOUS IF SWALLOWED DON’T PANIC, EVACUATE OR CALL 911…or there will be consequences...Mathew 13:49." According to the King James version of the Bible, Matthew 13:49 states: “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just."
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marc S. Anton and Ricardo A. Del Toro.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)