Arizona man charged for threatening to kill FBI agents sentenced to 15 months in prison

An Arizona man was sentenced to prison after he was arrested and charged with threatening to kill FBI agents.

Michael Lee Tomasi, 38, of Rio Verde, Ariz., was sentenced Monday to 15 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release after he made online threats against federal officials, the Department of Justice said in a release.

Tomasi was ordered to forfeit his assault rifle, handgun, shotgun, gun magazines and thousands of rounds of ammunition. He pleaded guilty in August to making the online threats.

“After making vile threats to execute and sexual assault FBI agents and employees, state and local law enforcement officials, and other public servants, Michael Tomasi told the FBI to ‘come to my house and see what happens’ — what has happened is that he will spend 15 months in federal prison,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

Tomasi made comments while living in Arizona and Colorado from May 2021 through November 2023. According to the department, he expressed a “desire to incite violence” and threatened a variety of individuals and groups.

He pleaded guilty to posting about shooting the FBI.

“Shoot the FBI first and ask questions later. … Any FBI have a problem with that[,] come to my house and see what happens. Shoot before they even pull their guns out of their trunk and you shoot to kill,” Tomasi wrote.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said he takes the threats personally and condemned any attacks on public officials.

“I take it very personally that anyone would threaten FBI personnel who work tirelessly to protect the American people from a variety of threats and often put themselves in harm’s way while carrying out their duties,” Wray said in a statement.

When Tomasi was arrested in January, the FBI said they found 5,000 rounds of ammunition, loaded magazines and multiple guns, NBC News reported at the time.