An Illinois man was arrested and charged by federal authorities for allegedly mailing letters containing an unknown substance to the state’s congressional offices, the Department of Justice said on Monday.
Matthew Unglesbee, a 36-year-old resident of Quincy in southwestern Illinois, was charged with violations related to false information and hoaxes and mailing threatening communications. He appeared in court on Monday and will attend a detention hearing set for 3 p.m. Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Springfield.
It is unclear which congressional offices in Illinois received Unglesbee’s letters, but there has been a trend in suspicious mailings over the past few weeks.
Earlier this month, the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and U.S. Capitol Police started investigating packages with traces of “suspicious substances” that had been mailed to congressional and election offices by anonymous senders. One of the substances was revealed to be white powder, which seemingly inspired Unglesbee to send his own letters.
When he was arrested by federal law enforcement on Sunday, the suspect admitted to putting salt in each of the four letters as a joke. An envelope mailed to a senator’s office included a substance and a handwritten note reading “HAH enjoy the gift,” according to the unsealed criminal complaint as reported by the Associated Press.
Unglesbee also told authorities he started sending the letters after hearing about similar mailings in the news this month. He denied involvement in the previously reported mailings.
His motive remains unclear, but the complaint says he knew the elected officials would take the threat seriously because the white powder might have been perceived as anthrax. None of the intended recipients opened the letters.
There was a fifth envelope addressed to a Congress member found by federal authorities during a search of Unglesbee’s home.
The defendant was caught after the FBI used the envelopes to track down his location. The letters were postmarked in Springfield and had Unglesbee’s name written in the section for a return address.
The FBI’s investigation started after an anonymous tipster reported Unglesbee talking in a restaurant about mailing a suspicious substance to congressional offices. The bureau received the tip on Oct. 16, nine days before the man’s arrest.
SUSPICIOUS PACKAGES SENT TO ELECTION AND CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES AHEAD OF MIDTERM ELECTIONS
“The use of the mail to threaten others, including the mailing of threatening substances, will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Gregory Gilmore said in a statement. “These threats will be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. My office appreciates the resources dedicated by the FBI and our law enforcement partners to keep our citizens safe.”
The FBI Springfield Field Office’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois are investigating the case.