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Threats bring 10-year term
By KATHRYN WEXLER, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- A man who wrote letters threatening to unleash anthrax was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Wednesday. Mitchell Monteverdi acted as his own attorney during the November trial and argued that he was innocent and the the government set him up. Jurors found Monteverdi guilty on all three counts of sending threatening communications through the mail. Monteverdi, who is already serving a 15-year sentence for forgery, theft and burglary, faced up to an additional 15 years in prison. Federal authorities argued that Monteverdi, who was in jail at the time, mailed a letter to U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday postmarked Feb. 22, 2000. The letter accused some judges of being corrupt. "I'll be by to visit you in person," the letter said, "and watch you draw your last breath as you contemplate all the wrong you've done." In April 2000, Monteverdi sent a letter to a Michigan prison inmate in a white supremacist group, according to charges. The letter outlined a plot to release anthrax into cities with large African-American communities, such as Atlanta and Detroit. Three weeks later, Tampa Tribune reporter Kathleen Beeman received a six-page handwritten letter outlining the anthrax plot. The letter demanded that Monteverdi be transported by Black Hawk helicopter to the Miami airport, where he would catch a plane to Italy. He also wanted $3,000, a passport and a cell phone. In return, the writer said he would alert officials to the details of the anthrax attacks. The letters were signed "Mitchell Monteverdi." Authorities all testified that Monteverdi admitted during questioning to sending the letters.
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