Man Gets Prison Time For Making 12,000 Harassing Phone Calls To Members Of Congress

WASHINGTON, DC — A former Maryland man was sentenced to more than one year in prison after prosecutors said he made thousands of threatening phone calls to congressional offices across the country, according to court records and an Associated Press report.

Ade Salim Lilly previously pleaded guilty to one count of interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure and one count of repeated telephone calls before a judge sentenced him to 13 months behind bars followed by three years of supervised release.

According to court documents, Lilly made about 12,000 telephone calls over the span of 19 months to 54 congressional offices across the country. In one call, prosecutors said Lilly threatened to kill a staff member working for a Congressional representative.

"Upon answering, (Lilly) would generally berate a staff member over a particular issue. When staff members would inform Lilly they (could not) assist him, he would become angry and use vulgar and harassing language towards the individual who answered the phone," prosecutors said.

According to court documents, Lilly made over 6,500 calls to offices in the District of Columbia while living in Maryland. He then moved to Puerto Rico, where he continued "waging his harassment campaign against Congress," which lasted from roughly February 2022 until November 2023, prosecutors said.

During this time, court documents said Lilly was arrested in Howard County for telephone misuse. A warrant was also issued for his arrest in Prince George's and Anne Arundel Counties for threats of mass violence.

Prosecutors recommended sentencing Lilly to 18 months of incarceration, arguing for a need to deter others from engaging in similarly threatening behavior. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger testified last year that threats against members of Congress had increased by about 400 percent over the previous six years.

“This is an election year, and more and more often, criticism of a political position or viewpoint crosses the First Amendment line and leads to true threats of violence," prosecutors wrote. "The pervasive rise in threats against elected officials creates a real risk that expressions of violence will become normalized."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.