Man who threatened to kill Chief Justice John Roberts sentenced to 14 months in prison

The U.S. Supreme Court, including its staffers and justices, was presumably relieved to hear of a recent development regarding what could have been a horrific situation.

According to The Hill, a Florida man who threatened to murder a sitting Supreme Court justice was sentenced to prison this week.

Neal Brij Sidhwaney, 43, of Fernandina Beach, Florida, was sentenced to 14 months in prison for threatening to kill Chief Justice John Roberts in a disturbing phone call last year, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Marcia Morales Howard earlier this week.

A Florida man was sentenced to over a year in prison for threatening to kill a Supreme Court justice, the Justice Department announced.

Sidhwaney placed a call to the Supreme Court and left an “expletive-laden, threatening voicemail message.” https://t.co/4K7VJeacJ6

— The Hill (@thehill) April 3, 2024

The Hill noted:

Sidhwaney pleaded guilty to one count of making an interstate threat to injure back in December.

Sidhwaney placed a call to the U.S. Supreme Court in July and left an “expletive-laden, threatening voicemail message.” He made the threat twice.

Shocking court documents revealed that the man, who identified himself to U.S. Marshals, told them to tell Chief Justice Roberts "I will f***ing kill you."

“Yeah hi, my name is Neal Sidhwaney, uh, this message is for [Justice Roberts]… I will f***ing kill you… Go f***ing tell the Deputy U.S. Marshals you f***ing p***y,” he said, according to a court filing. “I will f***ing talk to them and then I’ll f***ing come kill you anyways, you f***ing c**t.”

According to The Daily Beast, the man is former Google programmer.

The outlet noted:

The DOJ has declined to name Justice Roberts, but his name was included in court documents related to Sidhwaney’s psychological evaluation. Sidhwaney was found to have “fixed delusional beliefs,” and was diagnosed with delusional disorder with psychosis.

The evaluation was originally published by Politico earlier this year.

A recent report published by University of Nebraska at Omaha’s National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education (NCITE) Center indicated that threats against public officials have spiked in recent years.

Notably, since 2013, 501 threats against officials have resulted in federal charges, with Sidhwaney being the latest.

U.S. Marshals, who assume a bulk of the protection duties for sitting SCOTUS justices, recently received a funding boost to bolster security in the wake of the increasing number of threats.