GINO AUGUSTUS TURRELLA, 46, of Des Moines, Washington was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Seattle on sixteen counts of Threat by Instrument of Interstate Commerce and Identity Theft. TURRELLA was arrested on August 26, 2008, in the parking lot of the REI store in Tukwila, Washington. In a search of his home, law enforcement recovered more than 100 firearms. TURRELLA remains in federal custody, with a detention hearing scheduled for August 29, 2008.
The Indictment charges TURRELLA with transmitting threats, via e-mail, on eight occasions between the dates of May 2, 2008 and May 30, 2008. In making the threats, TURRELLA posed as other real people, and used e-mail addresses that he had opened under the names of those individuals. In the e-mails that he transmitted to Boeing, TURRELLA stated variously that he was going to bring a gun into a Boeing facility and "shoot ever [sic] employee I see," and also that he would "strap himself with explosives and detonate" if and when he was apprehended, in order to cause "maximum death and destruction in the workplace!" In an e-mail he posted to the Anacortes oil refinery website, he stated that "a bomb was placed at a strategic location at the Anacortes oil refinery" and that he was "going to set if off via remote control" so that it "will kill the most of your employees and do the most destruction to your refinery."
The crime of Threat by Instrument of Interstate Commerce is punishable by up to ten years in prison; the crime of Identity Theft is punishable by up to five years in prison. Conviction of either also can result in up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.00.
The case was investigated by the FBI, and the Auburn Police Department, and the Pierce County Sheriff's Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kathryn Warma.
For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney's Office, at (206) 553-4110.
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