A man who sent letters from state prison expressing a desire to kill federal judges, U.S. Marshals, and federal prosecutors was sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison.
During a hearing in Miami on Aug. 19, Michael Dean Drew, 51, was sentenced to 240 months in prison, to run consecutive to the sentence he is currently serving. Drew had previously been sentenced five times for sending threatening letters to federal judges, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, and federal law enforcement officers.
“The public officials who work to keep our country safe and uphold the rule of law should not have to fear for their lives or the lives of their families,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This sentence should make clear that the Justice Department has no tolerance for violence or threats of violence against public servants.”
“Law enforcement officers, judges, and prosecutors work every day to keep us safe against an ever-growing list of threats,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “Threatening them for doing their jobs to keep our communities safe strikes at the very heart of our society. This long sentence sends a strong message that we will take all measures to protect the public servants who dedicate their lives to ensure our public safety.”
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office will not tolerate heinous threats of violence that target prosecutors, the judiciary, and our partners in law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida. “As evidenced in the case against Michael Dean Drew, we will continue to investigate threats against public servants and aggressively seek penalties against those who engage in such abhorrent crimes. We must protect our dedicated government employees so that they may carry out their jobs without fear and ensure the functions of our democracy.”
“The U.S. Marshals Service is dedicated to protecting our justice system and those who serve it,” said U.S. Marshal Gadyaces Serralta for the District of Southern Florida. “We will not tolerate threats against prosecutors, judges, or law enforcement. Just as we did in the case of Michael Dean Drew, we will continue to investigate and hold accountable anyone who tries to intimidate public servants. Protecting those who enforce the law is crucial to maintaining our democracy and keeping our communities safe.”
According to court records, in May 2023 Drew mailed a letter to a federal judge in the Southern District of Florida threatening that the judge would die a violent death for presiding over a particular criminal case. In August 2023 Drew mailed two letters to the federal courthouse in Miami, in which he threatened another federal judge and members of the U.S. Marshals Service. In each letter Drew described how he was recruiting other people to violently murder the judge and members of the U.S. Marshals Service.
In September 2023 Drew mailed letters from his place of incarceration in Florida to Assistant U.S. Attorneys in Virginia and Georgia stating that he had recruited gang members and members of the Aryan Nation to carry out violent murders of Assistant U.S. Attorneys and their family members.
In one letter Drew said he would “take great pleasure in knowing you will suffer and die” and that the judge’s body would be “discarded as a piece of trash, thrown in a ditch.” In another letter addressed to the U.S. Marshals Service Drew said he was “recruiting” as many fellow inmates as possible into the Aryan Nation gang with “[o]ur first objective is to murder as many U.S. Marshals as possible… I and my fellow comrades have taken a blood oath to kill, harass, terrorize and destroy federal agents.” Each letter explained how victims’ deaths would be retaliation for their roles in the judicial system.
On June 6 Drew pleaded guilty to five counts of mailing threatening communications.
The FBI Miami Field Office and the U.S. Marshals Service Miami investigated this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Funk, Zachary E Keller, and Emily Rose Stone for the Southern District of Florida prosecuted this case.