For Immediate Release

April 21, 1999
      MAN CONVICTED OF THREATENING FEDERAL JUDGES BY INTERNET E-MAIL  
Katrina C. Pflaumer, United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, announced that CARL EDWARD JOHNSON, 49, of Bienfait, Saskatchewan, Canada, has been convicted on four felony counts of sending threatening e-mail messages via the Internet to federal judges and others.  The convictions were announced following a seven-day trial before United States District Judge Robert J. Bryan, in Tacoma, Washington.  JOHNSON was convicted of one count of Retaliating Against a Judicial Officer, one count of Obstructing Justice by Making a Death Threat Against a Judicial Officer, and two counts of Transmitting Threatening Communications in Foreign Commerce.  The first three charges were based on death threats posted to the Internet naming two federal judges based in Tacoma and Seattle.  The fourth charge was based on an e-mail threat sent directly to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.  JOHNSON was acquitted on one count of Obstructing Justice.

In announcing his verdict on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, Judge Bryan stated that he had "no doubt" JOHNSON was the author of three threatening messages sent over the Internet.  Although JOHNSON had used anonymous remailers and forged e-mail address information in an attempt to disguise his identity, Judge Bryan found that the Government's technical evidence proved JOHNSON’s authorship.  In response to the defense contention that the statements constituted "free speech" protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Judge Bryan ruled that the messages were "serious expressions of intention to do harm," and thus "clearly over the line" of protected speech.

The guilty verdicts are the culmination of a two-year investigation by U.S. Treasury agents into anonymous threats posted on the Internet and a scheme to assassinate government officials known as "Assassination Politics."  As the testimony and evidence at trial showed, the assassination scheme was first promoted by James Dalton Bell, of Vancouver, Washington, who had proposed to murder IRS employees, had gathered a list of IRS agents' names and home addresses, had contaminated an IRS office with a noxious chemical, and had experimented with other toxic and dangerous chemicals, including nerve agents.  JOHNSON had corresponded with Bell about Bell’s "Assassination Politics" concept via Internet e-mail.  After Bell’s arrest, JOHNSON vowed in an Internet e-mail message to take "personal action" in support of Bell.  On June 23, 1997, JOHNSON anonymously posted a message on the Internet suggesting that specific sums of money would be paid, in the form of electronic cash, for the deaths of a Federal Magistrate Judge in Tacoma, Washington, and Treasury agents involved in the Bell investigation.  Additional threatening messages linked to JOHNSON continued to appear on the Internet in the months that followed, and JOHNSON set up a World Wide Web page with a partial prototype of the "Assassination Politics" scheme.

JOHNSON also issued a death threat to several Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, again through an anonymous e-mail message.  The Government was able to identify JOHNSON as the author of the threatening messages and the Internet assassination web page through a variety of technical means.  In the case of the Ninth Circuit Judges death threat, Treasury agents were able to link the unique characteristics of an encrypted digital signature on the threatening message to encryption "keys" found on JOHNSON's computer.

Treasury investigators received assistance in the case from Canadian law enforcement agencies who were investigating JOHNSON for his Internet activities and an unexploded gasoline bomb found in a courthouse in Estevan, Saskatchewan.  The trial featured testimony from officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canadian Customs, as well as the Canadian Internet Service Provider Sympatico and Canadian telephone company Sasktel.  Computer experts from the Treasury Department and Portland Police Bureau also testified.

Sentencing is scheduled before Judge Bryan for June 11, 1999.  The retaliation and threatening communication counts each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison.  The obstruction of justice count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.  JOHNSON is currently being held without bail at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac, Washington.  JOHNSON also faces additional charges in Canada in connection with the bomb found in the Canadian courthouse.

The case was investigated by the United States Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.  In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Pflaumer credited the outstanding investigative work of Special Agent Jeffrey Gordon, particularly for his technical work in proving the identity of the threats’ author.  U.S. Attorney Pflaumer also expressed appreciation for the assistance of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, United States Secret Service, Portland Police Bureau, and Canadian Customs.

Assistant United States Attorneys Robb London and Floyd G. Short prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact Robb London or Floyd G. Short at (206) 553-7970, or Thomas C. Wales, Executive Assistant United States Attorney, at (206) 553-4495.
 

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