New York man sentenced to more than two years in prison for posting threats against Warnock and Congress

By CNN Newsource

Published December 16, 2021 2:53 PM

By Tierney Sneed and Devan Cole, CNN

A New York man was sentenced Thursday to 33 months in prison for posting online violent threats against Congress and a then-newly elected Democratic senator ahead of and during the January 6 Capitol insurrection, according to the Brooklyn US attorney’s office.

Eduard Florea posted several violent comments from his Parler account, under the name “LoneWolfWar,” on January 5 and 6, according to previous court filings. Some of those comments, according to the filings, were aimed at Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat whose win on January 5 helped the party secure control of the Senate.

“With today’s sentence, the defendant faces serious consequences for threatening the life of United States Senator Raphael Warnock as part of his effort to foment violence at the Capital on January 6, 2021 in connection with attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

Florea pleaded guilty in August to one count of transmitting threats to injure and one count of possessing ammunition after having been convicted of a felon. He faced up to 15 years in prison, but a spokesperson for the prosecutors told CNN earlier this year that the estimated sentencing guideline is 15-21 months.

When the FBI executed a search warrant on Florea’s home in Queens on January 12, he was found to be in possession of about 1,000 rounds of ammunition, according to previous court filings.

Florea posted a number of different threatening comments online earlier this year, according to a January 22 indictment, including one in which he said Warnock “is going to have a hard time casting votes for communist policies when he’s swinging with the f**king fish.”

Florea commented on another Parler user’s post about Warnock with the remark, “Dead man can pass sh*t laws,” according to the filings. As the Capitol siege was underway on January 6, he posted several more comments about traveling to Washington to “attack from all sides” and to “unleash some violence,” according to the indictment.

Court filings indicate Florea did not participate in the insurrection at the Capitol.

Before the threatening comments about Warnock, Florea posted on Parler on January 5 that “we need to all come to an agreement … and go armed … and really take back Washington,” according to the indictment.

During the hours that the Capitol was being ransacked, Florea continued to post threatening comments including, “We need to regroup outside of DC and attack from all sides … talking to some other guys … I will keep watching for the signal,” according to prosecutors.

Other comments, according to the court filings, said: “The time for peace and civility is over … / 3 cars full of armed patriots are enroute from NY / 3 cars of armed patriots heading into DC from NY / Guns cleaned loaded … got a bunch of guys all armed and ready to deploy … we are just waiting for the word.”

CNN’s Brian Vitagliano contributed to this report.