Patrick W. Carlineo Jr., a New Yorker who admitted threatening to “put a bullet” in the head of Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Democrat, was sentenced Friday to 366 days behind bars.
Carlineo, 56, was ordered by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. to spend a year and a day in prison for convictions stemming from threatening to kill the congresswoman.
He faced a punishment of between 21 and 27 months imprisonment under federal sentencing guidelines, although prosecutors and Ms. Omar had asked the court for significantly less.
Carlineo, a resident of Addison, N.Y., was arrested by the FBI at his home last April in connection with a telephone call he made a month prior to Ms. Omar’s office in D.C.
In a plea agreement entered in November, Carlineo acknowledged having threatened to kill the congresswoman while speaking on the phone with a member of Ms. Omar’s staff.
As outlined in court filings, Carlineo referred to the congresswoman during the phone call as a “f—-ing terrorist” and repeatedly commented about shooting Ms. Omar in the head.
“I’ll put a bullet in her f—-ing skill,” Carlineo said, according to the congressional staffer who answered his call. “Somebody ought to put a bullet in her skull. Back in the day, our forefathers would have put a bullet in her f—-ing skull.”
Carlineo was accordingly charged with threatening to assault and murder a U.S. official. An ex-convict, he was also charged with being a felon in possession of firearms after a search of his residence at the time of his arrest uncovered six guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
In a subsequent interview with the FBI, Carlineo said he made the call to the congresswoman’s office because he hates people he considers to be “radical Muslims” being in the U.S. government and believes Mr. Omar was illegitimately elected to the House of Representatives, according to court filings.
Carlineo ultimately pleaded guilty to both criminal counts in November, paving the way for him to spend more than two years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.
Ms. Omar wrote the court the following day, however, asking Carlineo’s presiding judge to show compassion at the time of his sentencing.
“Punishing the defendant with a lengthy prison sentence or a burdensome financial fine would not rehabilitate him. It would not repair the harm he as caused. It would only increase his anger and resentment,” wrote Ms. Omar. “I do not believe the defendant would be served by a severe prison sentence or substantial financial fine and ask you to show compassion in your sentencing.”
More recently, U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy told the court this week that the government sought a sentence for Carlineo of between 12 and 18 months in prison.
“The defendant chose to express his disagreement with Congresswoman Omar and her political views, and his anger about her election to Congress, by trying to intimidate, frighten and harass her,” he wrote in a sentencing memorandum entered by the government Wednesday. “The use of threats of violence to voice opposition to an elected official – by this defendant or any other citizen of this country – must not be tolerated and should be appropriately punished.”
Judge Geraci, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, ultimately opted to issue a sentence on the lighter side of what prosecutors sought: 366 days imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release.
Ms. Omar, a former Somali refugee and one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, has previously said she been on the receiving end of death threats since taking office.
She said last April that those threats significantly increased in number after President Trump shared an edited video on Twitter that took the congresswoman’s comments about the September 11 terrorist attacks out of context.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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