A United States district court sentenced a Pennsylvania man Monday after he reportedly threatened a sitting member of Congress and impersonated family members of a former President to fraudulently draw funds.
U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods sentenced 23-year-old Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, man Joshua Hall to 20 months in prison after Hall pleaded guilty to one count of making interstate communications with a threat to injure and one count of wire fraud, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams announced Monday, according to a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Hall allegedly made a series of phone calls from the Yonkers, New York, area to the office of a California congressman, identified as only “The Congressman” in the DOJ document, informing three staff members of his intent to kill and “beat the shit out of” the congressman if they crossed paths. He claimed to have “a lot of AR-15,” telling the third staff member that he planned to “come to the congressman’s office to kill the Congressman with firearms,” the release read.
The Congressman was later identified as Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell, Inner City Press reported.
NO MERCY: Joshua Hall Pled to Drunken Threat to Rep Swalwell, US Asks 27 Months, Now Swalwell Says No Mercy – Inner City Press story: https://t.co/cobeIJQ82l pic.twitter.com/0DYvga2H6Z
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) December 17, 2022
Hall also impersonated family members of former President Donald Trump, including then 13-year-old Barron Trump, between 2019 and 2020 to allegedly promote a fake political affinity organization. He convinced social media audiences to donate to his organization for the purpose of Trump’s 2020 reelection, using photos and names of Trump family members to amass over 100,000 followers.
Hall raked in thousands of dollars from hundreds of victims across the U.S., which he would use on his own personal living expenses, according to the DOJ release. (RELATED: Elon Musk Spotted With Jared Kushner At World Cup Final)
In addition to the prison sentence, Hall will face three years of supervised release, according to the outlet.