FBI: Ex-Naval Officer from Middleton agrees to plead guilty to making threats in interstate commerce

BOSTON — A former naval police officer at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire has agreed to plead guilty to charges of making threatening communications to his ex-wife and her mother in Iowa, the FBI announced Monday.

Luis De Leon, 30, of Middleton, has agreed to plead guilty to three counts of making threats in interstate commerce, according to the FBI office in Boston. He was previously arrested and charged by criminal complaint on Sept. 26, 2022.

According to the charging documents, on or about April 30, 2022, De Leon made a threatening phone call to his ex-wife in Iowa from a mobile telephone belonging to another person. Prosecutors allege that De Leon made several threatening statements including, “You’re gonna f****** pay! Do you understand!? There will be death! There will be war in the street! You wanna to go war!? I’ll take you to f****** war!”

Between May and June 2022, prosecutors allege that De Leon sent two letters containing threats to his ex-wife’s mother in Iowa. In the letters, it is alleged that De Leon wrote, among other things, “I’ll be heading over there soon […] God help you and your dysfunctional family if you try and stop me. I won’t be alone either just so you know and that’s for your safety NOT MINE!!! […] If you don’t believe me just look where I’m sending this from. I don’t really have much else to lose, and do you know what men with nothing left to lose usually do?”

A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled.

The charge of making threatening communications in interstate commerce provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2022 Cox Media Group