Jury Finds North Suburban Man Not Guilty Of Threats To FBI Agents

CHICAGO — After a three-day trial, a federal jury acquitted a north suburban man of making threats to the FBI. Over the course of at least 18 months, he made a series of threats over the phone and in person before trying to force his way inside a northwest suburban field office, federal agents alleged. His lawyers argued his conduct was certainly annoying but not criminal.

Matthew Berger, 34, had been in US Marshals Service custody for more than nine months after he showed up at the FBI's Rolling Meadows office at 1600 Golf Road. He was denied entry after trying to push the door open and hold it ajar with his foot, according to the charges.

A grand jury later indicted him on four counts of transmitting a threat using interstate commerce and one count of threatening to "assault and murder" federal law enforcement officers "with the intent to impede, intimidate, and interfere with such officers while engaged in their official duties and with intent to retaliate against" them.

A jury found him not guilty of all five counts Monday after less than four hours of deliberation. He was transferred to Cook County custody and released after posting a bond Tuesday in connection with state charges resulting from an incident at the Skokie police station.

"It was the correct verdict. This was obviously a young man who was never a threat to anybody, but simply wanted the FBI to look into concerns that he had. Instead they hung up on him," defense attorney Steve Greenberg told Patch. "They knew these were not serious threats, that’s why, notwithstanding that he repeatedly called over the years, no one ever investigated."

In a court filing, Greenberg pointed out an FBI employee was "giggling" as she reported Berger's phone number to the National Threat Operation Center, which informed her that Berger was found to be a nuisance and should not be given any information.

The defense attorney, who said he had likely been trying cases for longer than both prosecutors combined, noted the employee "repeatedly expresses she did not feel the threat was a legitimate threat, but that she felt protocol required she call."

But U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin granted the prosecution's request to keep the jury from hearing a recording of the internal FBI phone call.

A few days after the Dec. 17, 2018, incident, FBI agent Sean Wolodzko said in an affidavit that Berger had arrived around 8 a.m. and confronted an employee who worked at another business in the office complex.

"F--- this county. I'm gonna make you learn this language — Russian," Berger said, according to the affidavit. "I'm gonna make the FBI pay. I'm gonna f------ get them. I'm gonna get the FBI."

Prosecutors said Berger motioned to flag poles and said, "All these flags will be in Russian. I'm gonna kill you and kill Americans."

Berger made more than 100 phone calls to the FBI in 2018, in addition to "many other harassing and threatening calls" to Evanston U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, the U.S. Secret Service and the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Justice, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaitlin Klamann.

In a series of profane phone calls presented at trial, Berger called various FBI numbers, giving a "shout-out" to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, notifying one FBI employee "God's gonna shatter your nation" and telling another that he was "going to kill everyone in the [Joint Terrorism Task Force,]" according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

In some of the calls, Berger provided authorities with his name and phone number, according to the FBI, and officials had officially designated him as a "nuisance caller." Shortly after dropping by the field office, he showed up at the Rolling Meadows Police Department.

Berger himself had called 911 right after the incident to let police know that the FBI employee who shut the door on him at the Rolling Meadows field office was "trying to violate [his] rights," the Sun-Times reported.

"This is about someone who’s annoying," defense attorney Josh Herman told the jury, according to the paper. "He’s our client and I’m saying that"

Berger, whose parents live in Skokie, had been living in suburban hotels for the six months leading up to his arrest, according to federal prosecutors. Berger was repeatedly hospitalized while held ahead of trial at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, according to Greenberg, who had asked the judge to allow him to live with his parents or with his girlfriend in Des Plaines.

In January 2017, Wheeling police found Berger sleeping in his car, with two large knives and bear mace that he told officers he used for self-defense, according to a filing from Klamann, the prosecutor, arguing that he remained a danger to the community. After later being pulled over by Deerfield police, Berger again "became irate" and began shouting profanity about hating the police.

In a June 2017 phone call to an FBI public access line, Berger told an operator, "We were just wondering if we needed to kill you," according to Wolodzko's affidavit. When the operator asked for his name, Berger said, "Ya, we definitely need to kill you. I see that. Just expect it. Everyone in charge is going to have to face the gun, now. Got it?"

In June 2018, Berger gave up the lease on his apartment and began traveling from hotel to hotel. Over the next two months, he purchased two guns. In October, he turned them in to Skokie police in an attempt to obtain a medical marijuana card, according to Klamann. But when Berger returned a few weeks later in an effort to get his guns back, he became "incensed," pulled a fire alarm and was charged with disorderly conduct, the prosecutor said.

While seeking his release ahead of trial, Berger sent emails to his girlfriend asking her to contact Skokie police about getting his guns back and warning he would sue the department for violating his rights if they dispose of his guns for any reason. Klamann said it was not clear whether the two guns he handed over to Skokie police were the only two he owned.

Following his acquittal on the federal charges, which could have led to a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, Berger will now face the Skokie charge.