Florida man pleads guilty to threatening Utah congressman

Photo by nito100 / iStock / Getty Images Plus; St. George News

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man has pleaded guilty to making a threatening phone call to then Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz threatening to hunt him down and hang him.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Charles Zachary Howard of Winter Park pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to threatening the Republican congressman last March.

Howard, a registered Republican, called Chaffetz’s Washington office and threatened to hunt him down, “wrap a rope around your neck and hang you from a lamppost.”

Howard could receive up to five years in prison but prosecutors agreed to seek a light sentence, citing Howard’s military service and mental health problems. No sentencing date has been set.

Chaffetz resigned from Congress in June, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.