MIDDLETON — A former naval police officer at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard who was charged last year with threatening his ex-wife and her mother will serve 12 to 18 months in federal prison under the terms of a plea agreement reached with federal prosecutors.
Luis De Leon, 30, of Middleton, entered into the agreement to plead guilty to three counts of making threats in interstate commerce on Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s office announced Monday. A hearing date for him to formally enter the plea has not been scheduled.
De Leon, prosecutors say, used a borrowed cell phone last April to call his former wife in Iowa and told her “You’re gonna (expletive) pay! Do you understand? There will be death! There will be war in the street! You wanna go to war? I’ll take you to (expletive) war!” He was arrested and charged last September.
In May and June, prosecutors say he sent letters to his former mother-in-law in which he warned “I’ll be heading over there soon, God help you and your dysfunctional family if you try and stop me. I won’t be alone either just so you know and that’s for your safety, not mine.”
At that point, De Leon was in custody after he was found carrying a hatchet in Lawrence. “If you don’t believe me just look where I’m sending this from,” De Leon wrote. “I don’t really have much else to lose and do you know what men with nothing left to lose usually do?”
While the maximum penalty for threatening communications is five years, the agreement calls for 12 to 18 months in custody, followed by three years of supervised release. Among the conditions of his sentence is that he remain compliant with medication he is now taking.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis
Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis
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