A former Maryland resident has been sentenced to more than one year in prison for engaging in a campaign of threatening and harassing telephone calls to numerous congressional offices across the United States. Court records reveal that Ade Salim Lilly made approximately 12,000 calls over a period of 19 months to over 50 offices of members of Congress, with one call involving a threat to kill a congressional staff member.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly handed down a sentence of 13 months of incarceration followed by three years of supervised release for Lilly. Prosecutors had recommended an 18-month sentence, citing the need to deter others from similar threatening behavior. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger testified that threats against members of Congress had surged by about 400% over the past six years.
In a statement, prosecutors highlighted the concerning trend of threats against elected officials, warning that the escalation in such behavior poses a risk of normalizing expressions of violence. They noted that during an election year, criticism of political positions can sometimes cross the line into genuine threats of violence.
Lilly pleaded guilty in May to two charges: one count of interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure, and one count of making repeated telephone calls. The harassment campaign, which spanned from February 2022 to November 2023, saw Lilly relocate from Maryland to Puerto Rico.
Prosecutors revealed that Lilly made over 500 calls to a single lawmaker's Washington office in a two-day period in February 2023. The case underscores the serious consequences of engaging in threatening behavior towards elected officials and the legal ramifications that can follow such actions.
