Crime & Safety
McLean Man Sentenced For Threatening Public Official, Harassing 2nd Victim
A McLean man was sentenced Thursday after being convicted in federal court for sending threatening and harassing messages.
ALEXANDRIA, VA — A McLean man was sentenced Thursday to 15 months in prison for transmitting threats in interstate commerce, federal prosecutors said.
Scott Allen Bolger, 33, used Google Voice on Dec. 23, 2025, to send a threatening text message to a public official, according to court documents. Google Voice allows users to send text messages while obscuring their phone numbers.
In the message, Bolger threatened to put a bullet in the official’s head, prosecutors said. Before sending the threat, Bolger researched the official’s personal phone number and contacted him, according to court documents.
Find out what's happening in McLeanfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
When federal investigators went to Bolger’s home to investigate the threat, they identified themselves as federal law enforcement officers, prosecutors said. Bolger falsely identified himself as Brian Black and told investigators he did not know anyone named Scott Bolger, according to court documents.
RELATED: McLean Man Pleads Guilty To Sending Threatening Texts To Federal Employee
Find out what's happening in McLeanfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Bolger pleaded guilty in February in federal court in Alexandria to using Google Voice to send the threatening text to a federal employee.
In January, a federal grand jury indicted Bolger on a charge of knowingly transmitting, in interstate and foreign commerce, a communication containing a threat to injure or harm another person.
During his plea, Bolger also admitted to sending threatening and harassing messages to a second victim, who is not a public official, prosecutors said.
RELATED: Threatening Text To Federal Employee Lands McLean Man In Court
From at least October 2022, Bolger created multiple fictitious accounts on X and Proton Mail to harass the second victim and researched the person online through at least November 2025, according to court documents. Prosecutors said Bolger sent the second victim private indecent images of the victim and, on at least one occasion, created a public-facing profile with indecent images of the victim.
The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Washington Field Office investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob Mercer and Russell L. Carlberg prosecuted the case.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.