Man Who Threatened Dr. Fauci, Others Sentenced To Prison: DOJ

GREENBELT, MD — A West Virginia man who sent emails to Dr. Anthony Fauci threatening to harm him and his family has been sentenced to three years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland announced Friday.

Thomas Patrick Connally Jr., 57, of Snowshoe, West Virginia, will serve 37 months in prison for threatening Fauci, the current director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor.

According to his plea agreement, Connally used an anonymous email account based in Switzerland over a period of six months to send Fauci emails threatening to hurt or kill him and members of his family.

One email told Fauci that he and his family would be "dragged into the street, beaten to death, and set on fire," authorities said.

Connally also admitted to threatening Dr. Francis Collins, the former director of the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Rachel Levine, the assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to authorities. Connally also threatened a Massachusetts public health official and a leader at a New Jersey religious institution.

In an email to Collins, Connally threatened him and his family with physical assault and death if Collins did not stop speaking about the need for "mandatory" COVID-19 vaccinations, authorities said.

Connolly was arrested in July 2021 in West Virginia

"Today’s sentencing shows that individuals threatening violence against federal officials and others will be held accountable for their crimes," Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Christian Schrank said in a news release. "The public, including public servants, deserve the utmost safety and the assurance that they can perform their duties without interference."