ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Brian Clayton Charles, 52, of Tucson, Arizona, was sentenced in federal court today to 18 months (542 days) in prison on five counts of mailing threatening communications to officers from the Albuquerque Police Department.
Charles pleaded guilty to these offenses on September 10, 2019. In his plea agreement, Charles admitted sending threatening letters to five officers using the United States Postal Service. Charles sent three letters on Sept. 26, 2016, and additional letters on Oct. 6, 2016, and Oct. 11, 2016. All of these victims are Albuquerque police officers, according to a previous criminal complaint and other court documents. Charles threatened in the letters to “cause the city residents to exterminate you vile men with their guns, and I will pile your bodies in mass graves in the city cemetery.” The U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) initiated an investigation into Charles after he allegedly mailed a letter, postmarked March 24, 2016, to the home address of then Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington D.C., which threatened to harm the Secretary of State.
Charles received 542 credit on his sentence for time already served. He will not serve any further time in prison.
DSS’s Office of Protective Intelligence Investigations and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General investigated this case jointly with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Albuquerque Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jack E. Burkhead, Paul H. Spiers, and Kimberly A. Brawley prosecuted the case.