Arizona man sentenced to prison for threatening government officials, FBI agents

PHOENIX - Officials with the United States Attorney's Office say an Arizona man has been sent to prison, after he pleaded guilty to threatening public officials.

Per a statement released on Nov. 26, a judge sentenced 38-year-old Michael Lee Tomasi on Nov. 25 to 15 months in prison and 36 months of supervised released.

"Tomasi also was ordered to forfeit an assault rifle, handgun, shotgun, gun magazines, and thousands of rounds of ammunition," read a portion of the statement.

Officials say Tomasi, who is from Rio Verde, pleaded guilty to a count of making threats against public officials in August.

"From May 2021 through November 2023, while living in Colorado and Arizona, Tomasi used a social media platform to express a desire to incite violence and threaten a variety of individuals and groups, including a city district attorney, a state court judge, a member of Congress and other federal officials and law enforcement officers," read a portion of the statement.

Tomasi, according to investigators, admitted to posting a threat to kill FBI agents "in order to impede, intimidate, or interfere with FBI agents’ performance of their official duties."

"Specifically, Tomasi admitted that, on that day, he posted: "Shoot the FBI first and ask questions later....any FBI [] have a problem with that[,] come to my house and see what happens.," read a portion of the statement.