INMATE GETS MORE TIME FOR MORE THREATS

United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins stated that Stephen Elbert Boykin, age 36, of Greenville, South Carolina, was sentenced in federal court in Spartanburg for mailing threatening letters, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 876. United States District Judge Henry F. Floyd sentenced Boykin to 125 months in federal prison, to be added to the 134-month term he is currently serving for earlier threatening letters.

In December 2007 Secret Service agents intercepted letters Boykin mailed to then President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, threatening to kill them. Agents also located threatening letters Boykin mailed to then Senator Barack Obama and talk show personality Oprah Winfrey. Boykin pled guilty to these charges last October, and while awaiting sentencing, he mailed additional threatening letters to the presiding federal judge, the prosecutor, and other court personnel. A new judge and prosecutor were then assigned to handle the sentencing.

The case was investigated by agents of the United States Secret Service and the United States Marshals Service. Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin F. McDonald and Max B. Cauthen handled the case.