Hamden Man Who Mailed More Than 100 Threatening Letters Is Sentenced: Feds

HAMDEN, CT — A Hamden man has been sentenced to one day in prison, time already served, for mailing numerous threatening letters to people in Connecticut and elsewhere, according to officials.

Garrett Santillo, 45, was also sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven to three years of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney for Connecticut Marc H. Silverman announced.

Between approximately December 2021 and June 2022, authorities said Santillo mailed more than 100 letters containing threatening and hateful statements, including threats of violence, to journalists, judges and other public officials and individuals in Connecticut and elsewhere, including a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and a U.S. Supreme Court Justice Nominee.

“Several letters mailed by Santillo contained this or similar language: ‘If you don’t obey what this letter says, you along with others including [name redacted] and people in Washington DC and everywhere and you. You all will be killed!!’” officials wrote in a news release.

Santillo was arrested on July 6, 2022. He pleaded guilty on June 1, 2023 to one count of mailing threatening communications to a United States Judge.

This is Santillo’s fourth federal prosecution for mailing threatening letters, officials said.

Bolden ordered Santillo to continue his mental health treatment while on supervised release, and to allow the U.S. Probation Office to monitor his electronic devices, according to officials.