BANGOR, Maine — A federal judge on Thursday linked an Illinois man’s threats against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins to the level of anger laced through the county’s current political discourse.
U.S District Judge John Woodcock sentenced John P. O’Neill, 47, of Arlington Heights, Ill., to five months in prison followed by five months of community confinement for threatening to shoot U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and assault a staff member in her Augusta office during a phone call on Feb. 10, 2009.
O’Neill’s threat “to put a bullet in [Collins’] head” and to “come to Maine and kick [the staffer’s] teeth in” are examples of “the hardening of what passes for political discourse in this country” and the tendency of some “to demonize” people who do not agree with them, the judge said.
“Debate must remain vigorous,” Woodcock said, “but people must stop assuming that those who disagree with them are less patriotic or love this country less than they do.”
The judge also sentenced O’Neill to three years of supervised release after the defendant pleaded guilty to one count of making threatening interstate communications.
At the conclusion of the 2½-hour sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court, Woodcock ordered O’Neill to report to prison on Oct. 29.
O’Neill, who showed no emotion when he was sentenced, will remain free on bail until then.
“I apologize for my actions,” O’Neill told Woodcock just before the sentence was imposed. “I apologize to Susan Collins and the person I spoke to on the phone and for all the trouble this caused. I wish this never had happened. I wish I’d never called.”
O’Neill said that even though he was in a bad situation, some good came out of his being charged.
“I’ve accepted my bipolar diagnosis, and I’m getting treatment,” he said.
O’Neill’s wife of 15 years, Donna O’Neill, tearfully urged Woodcock not to send her husband and the father of their three children to prison. She said that since beginning treatment five months ago and living in a group home, O’Neill has changed.
“John needs to get back to us,” she said. “We need to restart our family life.”
The unemployed ironworker called Collins’ Augusta office 17 times between Feb. 9 and 12, 2009, according to court documents. At first, O’Neill urged the senator to vote against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $787 billion stimulus package.
When he learned that Collins supported the bill, O’Neill made the phone call that led to the criminal charge. His demeanor during the call was described in court documents as “loud, profane and belligerent.”
O’Neill told the staff member, who is identified in court documents by the initials C.M., that Collins had sold out her country and was a disgrace to the Republican Party. He then stated he was going to come to Maine to shoot Collins and assault the staffer, according to court documents.
The threats were immediately reported to the Threat Assessment Section of the U.S. Capitol Police, which notified the FBI, according to court documents. Agents in Illinois visited O’Neill at his home in a Chicago suburb the same day he made the threats.
O’Neill admitted making the calls and the threats, according to court documents, but said he was intoxicated when he did. Despite warnings from the FBI agents that he not call any of Collins’ offices again, he made two more calls, but did not make threats.
The decision to file charges against O’Neill was made by law enforcement officials, according to Kevin Kelley, a spokesman for Collins.
“Neither Sen. Collins nor her staff played any role in the decision of law enforcement to press charges,” he said.
The defendant faced up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Under the prevailing federal sentencing guidelines, O’Neill faced between 10 and 16 months in prison and a fine of between $3,000 and $30,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Wolff, who prosecuted the case, recommended that O’Neill spend six months in prison and four months in community confinement or home detention. Wolff declined to comment on the case after the sentencing.
O’Neill’s defense attorney, Richard Hartley of Bangor, urged Woodcock to go outside the sentencing guidelines and sentence his client to probation rather than prison time. Hartley said that if O’Neill had threatened a person who was not a government employee, he would have faced between zero to six months in prison under the federal sentencing guidelines.
After O’Neill serves five months in a federal prison, he will be confined to a community treatment center or group home where he can continue treatment for his mental health and substance abuse problems, Woodcock said.