An Anne Arundel County, Maryland, resident was sentenced to four months in federal prison after using an event planning site to send murder threats to a member of Congress.
Officials said in a news release that Justin Kuchta, 40, made threats to murder a member of Congress through their district office in Texas in July of 2022 using an event management website.
A similar office was reportedly sent to the Congressperson’s D.C. office on July 22.
In his plea agreement, Kuchta stated that he used the event planning website — meant to coordinate an event in Missouri that the Congressperson was attending — to send an email threatening the lives of featured guests, including that member of Congress.
“Thank you for the address!!!” Kuchta said in his email, explicitly stating his intent to murder the member.
Kuchta also identified the member as the “Zodiak Killer” in his messages on the event management website.
An investigation revealed Kuchta’s identity after his IP address was tracked to a private high-speed network located in and operated by the State of Maryland.
He initially denied sending the messages before his most recent plea agreement was reached.
Kuchta will serve four months in federal prison before beginning a year of supervised release. He originally faced up to five years in prison.
