An inmate at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility has been indicted for allegedly sending a letter to the office of U.S. Congressman Bennie Thompson that included threats to kill President Joe Biden, federal prosecutors announced.
Thompson, a Democrat who has long represented Mississippi's 2nd District, is the chair of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.
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Robert Maverick Vargo, 25, of Berwick, Columbia County, allegedly sent the letter to the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. It was received on Oct. 11 and contained what appeared to be a white powder, prosecutors said.
“Im going to kill you! I will make you feel the rest of our pain & suffering," Vargo allegedly wrote. "There is nowhere or nobody who can keep you from me. I am going to kill you & those you love. I promise you that I will keep my promise until the day of my death.”
Later in the letter, Vargo allegedly made a direct threat to the president.
“You & Joe Biden soon will face death for the wrongs you’ve done to US," the letter said.
Vargo also allegedly alluded to anthrax in the letter, but U.S. Capitol Police tested the substance in the envelope and determined it was not the biological agent.
In July, Vargo escaped the prison facility in Wilkes-Barre, where he was being held on a burglary charge from an incident in Columbia County in May 2020, court records show. He was captured and charged in connection with the escape.
Federal authorities have charged more than 920 people in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, which was led by a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump. More than 70 people from Pennsylvania have been charged for their roles in the insurrection, among the highest in the nation, and several have been sentenced to prison in recent months.
Thompson leads the bipartisan House Select Committee that has been tasked with investigating the riot, interviewing hundreds of people and reviewing documents related to the planning of the insurrection. The committee has held a number of public hearings that began in June to make its findings public.
Vargo, if convicted, faces a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.