Man Sentenced to Over a Year in Federal Prison: Threatening phone call to Democratic Congressman

IOWA -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, June 11, 2021 Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District of Iowa

Iowa Man Sentenced to Over a Year in Federal Prison for Placing Threatening Phone Call to U.S. Congressman’s Office

Man, Who Has Prior Criminal Convictions Involving Threats and Violence, Told Congressman’s Staffer that He Was Going to Have the Congressman Assassinated

A man who called a United States Congressman’s office and told a staffer that he was going to find someone to assassinate the Congressman was sentenced today to more than a year in federal prison.

Kenneth Brown, age 57, previously living in Cedar Falls, Iowa, received the prison term after a December 4, 2020 guilty plea to one count of transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce.

At the plea hearing, Brown admitted that on December 18, 2019, he called the Washington D.C. office of Congressman Jerrold Nadler of New York.  Brown admitted that he spoke with a staff assistant working in the office and threatened the Congressman.  Specifically, as charged in the indictment, Brown said “I will find someone to assassinate that piece of (expletive deleted) you work for.  Jerry Nadler is going to be assassinated.”

Information at sentencing showed that Brown has prior criminal convictions involving violence and threats of violence.  In 1996, he was convicted of inflicting injury on a spouse and threatening to commit a crime to terrorize the victim.  In 2005, he was convicted of two counts of aggravated battery against a household member using a deadly weapon.  In that case, Brown restrained a woman against her will and used a knife to hurt the victim in a way that caused or could have caused the victim great bodily harm.  In 2010, a warrant was issued for Brown’s arrest because he violated his probation by failing to report to his probation officer, failing to maintain employment, and by incurring new criminal charges.  According to a witness, Brown then fled to Mexico because he knew there was a warrant for his arrest.  Law enforcement ultimately arrested Brown in 2017 and he was sentenced to almost a year in prison.

Brown was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Brown was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Brown is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Waterloo Police Department, and the United States Capitol Police. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 20-CR-2042.