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Apr 26, 2024

Endicott Man Sentenced to Prison for Threatening Congresswoman

An Endicott man who was taken into custody by the FBI in a pre-dawn raid at his North Side residence is heading to prison for threatening Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. 51-year-old Joseph Morelli was

An Endicott man who was taken into custody by the FBI in a pre-dawn raid at his North Side residence is heading to prison for threatening Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

51-year-old Joseph Morelli was sentenced Thursday in Syracuse federal court to serve three months in prison for telephone threats he made to Greene's office in Washington, D.C.

FBI agents led a large contingent of heavily-armed law enforcement officers who surrounded Morelli's Oak Hill Avenue apartment house early on the morning of March 17, 2022.

Authorites said Morelli was taken into custody without incident. He had been accused of transmitting threatening interstate communications.

According to an affidavit, Morelli left seven threatening voicemail messages for Taylor Greene at her Washington congressional office on March 3 and 4, 2022. The calls were said to have been made from a phone in Morelli's apartment.

In one message, Morelli is alleged to have identified himself and provided his phone number before stating: "You've got a big f---ing mouth, and I'm gonna show you what violence is really about."

In the message, the caller was recorded saying he could "pay someone 500 bucks to take a baseball bat and crack your skull." He later said: "You are going to get f---ing physically hurt."

In an earlier voicemail, the caller said "I just don't think I can go on letting you, you know, cause hatred and poison to people."

Chief U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes sentenced Morelli. He was ordered to serve a three-year term of supervised release when he completes his prison sentence.

Morelli was directed to surrender to prison on October 2. After he entered his guilty plea earlier this year, prosecutors said he could face a five-year prison term and a fine of $250,000.

READ the March 2022 criminal complaint against Joseph Francis Morelli HERE

Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: [email protected] or (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.