Florida inmate pleads guilty to threatening federal judge

A Florida state prison inmate faces up to 10 years in federal prison for threatening to kill a federal judge and his family.

Curtis Brown, 35, pleaded guilty Tuesday, Dec. 27, in Jacksonville federal court to threatening to murder a federal judge in retaliation for performing his official duties and mailing a threatening letter, according to court records.

A sentencing date wasn’t immediately set.

According to court documents, Brown was serving a sentence for drug trafficking in the Florida State Prison in Raiford in November 2021 when he sent a handwritten letter to a federal judge’s chambers. The letter stated the judge’s “recent refusal to grant warranted relief” gave Brown no other choice but to use his federal stimulus money to pay for someone to kill the judge.

The letter stated if Brown could not get to the judge in time, then Brown would settle for a member of the judge’s family, prosecutors said. The letter was signed by Brown, and beneath his signature was a statement the letter better stay between them, or it would get worse.

Brown was sentenced to prison in 2006 after being convicted of multiple drug charges. Florida Department of Corrections records show he was supposed to be released from state prison in 2034.

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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.