Thomas Troy Bitter, 36, made his initial appearance Monday in District Court before Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller after his arrest on St. Thomas on a charge that he used his e-mail account to send threatening communications, U.S. Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced.
Miller remanded Bitter to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending detention and preliminary hearings scheduled for Wednesday.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the District Court, Bitter used his e-mail account to send threatening communications to various law enforcement personnel, including a federal law enforcement officer in St. Thomas and a federal judge in California. If convicted, Thomas faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of as much as $250,000.
The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Everard E. Potter.