Manchester Man Facing More Prison Time for Threats on Fed Officers

MANCHESTER, CT — A Manchester man may spend another round in prison for threatening a federal official after a failed drug tests put him in trouble during his original sentence, a leading prosecutor said.

Deirdre M. Daly, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced Friday that a federal jury in Hartford has found Peter Santos, 41, of Manchester, guilty of one count of threatening a federal official.

The trial before U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson began on May 30 and the jury returned the verdict Friday afternoon.

According to evidence presented during the trial, in January 2014, Santos was sentenced in the Southern District of New York to 25 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to transport stolen goods, conspiring to receive stolen goods and conspiring to commit wire fraud.

On Dec. 31, 2015, after completing his prison term, Santos began serving his three-year period of supervised release, which was transferred to the U.S. Probation Office in the District the Connecticut, Daly said.

While on supervised release, Santos tested positive for controlled substances on multiple occasions and on Aug. 31, 2016, he appeared before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven for a supervised release violation hearing, Daly said.

Judge Arterton revoked Santos' supervised release and imposed a penalty of six months of imprisonment to be followed by 24 months of additional supervised release, Daly said.

As the U.S. Marshals were walking Santos out of the courtroom, Santos looked at his supervising U.S. Probation Officer and stated “When I get out, I’m coming for you,” Daly said. The Probation Officer responded, “Excuse me?” and Santos responded, “You heard me,” Daly said.

After they left the courtroom, a Deputy U.S. Marshal said to Santos, “That’s not smart,” according to court records. Santos responded by stating that he "did not care and he was tired of it," adding that, “Everyone has to meet their maker whether it is by me or some other way,” Daly said.

The investigation revealed that Santos made additional threats while he was incarcerated on the supervised release violation, she added.

Judge Thompson scheduled sentencing for Aug. 29. Santos faces a maximum term of imprisonment of six years, Daly said.

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