Published: June 16, 2009 09:19 pm      

Va. man pleads guilty to campus threats

GRUNDY, Va. — A Buchanan County man who posted online threats of violence to several universities has pleaded guilty to a five-count indictment in U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Va.

Allen Leon Sammons, 28, of Oakwood, has pleaded guilty to five counts of transmitting in interstate commerce a communication threatening to injure the person of another, U.S. Attorney Julia C. Dudley said in a press release.

Dudley said Sammons admitted in court that on several different occasions that he sent e-mail messages to individuals or posted messages on a social networking website called livejournal.com that contained threats to harm others.

“The investigation and apprehension of this individual is a true testament to how well law enforcement agencies across the country can react to a threat and keep our friends and neighbors safe,” Dudley said in the press release. “The information sharing among the federal, state and local agencies was crucial to the success of this investigation. I cannot thank each one of them enough.”

Dudley said Sammons sent a threatening e-mail to the Rice University admissions department in January 2008 that led to employees at the university leaving the office out of concern for their safety.

Dudley said Sammons also posted long essays on the social networking website expressing his frustrations with the university system, and his aggravation with “traditional students.” In one post, Dudley said the man indicated he intended to take over a university by force, and indicated he bought a cheap, imitation AK-47 he would use.

During a search of the man’s computer hard drive, Dudley said officials found a document labeled “People to Kill.” It contained the names of various people and their addresses.

Dudley said Sammons traveled to the University of Illinois in August 2007 to confront several students he had posted threats to on livejournal.com. Dudley said Sammons waited outside of an apartment door of the students, but changed his mind and never approached them.

If convicted on the charges, the man faces a maximum penalty of at 25 years in prison and or a fine of $1,240,000. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled in the case.

The investigation was conducted by the Bristol Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Virginia State Police, the Big Stone Gap Police Department, the Wise County Sheriff’s Office, the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office, the Rice University Police Department and the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana Police Department. Assistant United States Jennifer Bockhorst is prosecuting the case for the United States.