Andrew S. Boutros, Attorney | U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois
Andrew S. Boutros, Attorney | U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois
A federal inmate has been sentenced to an additional seven years in prison for threatening a U.S. Probation officer in Chicago. Glenn Bowden, who was incarcerated in 2023, mailed a letter threatening to injure the officer who had conducted a presentence investigation prior to his sentencing on a federal robbery conviction in 2022. Bowden was serving a nine-year sentence for the robbery case.
Bowden also authored a letter purportedly from his prison chaplain and filed it with the court in support of a motion for compassionate release. The chaplain was unaware of this letter. When interviewed by the FBI, Bowden falsely claimed ignorance about both letters.
Bowden, 64, from Riverdale, Illinois, pleaded guilty last year to mailing a threatening communication, obstructing an official proceeding, and making false statements to the FBI. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold sentenced him to seven years and three months in prison, which will be served after completing his robbery sentence.
The announcement came from Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; and LaDon A. Reynolds, United States Marshal for the Northern District of Illinois. The Federal Bureau of Prisons provided assistance during the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maureen Merin and Kirsten Moran represented the government.
“Threats against Court personnel and other federal staff have no place in our system of justice,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros. “The sentence that the Court imposed in this case should send a clear message that such reprehensible conduct will be met with harsh punishment.”
“Threatening to assault federal personnel is a grave offense that risks the safety of all those who selflessly choose to protect and serve our communities,” said FBI SAC DePodesta. “Any attempt to elicit violence against the federal workforce will be met with swift and full action by our dedicated law enforcement and prosecutorial partners.”
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