CINCINNATI – A federal grand jury has charged Rodney D. Cydrus, 47, formerly of Chillicothe, with charges related to threatening United States judges and federal law enforcement officials in an indictment returned in Cincinnati. Cydrus is currently an inmate at Lebanon Correctional Institution.
Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Mark Porter, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service, announced the indictment returned yesterday afternoon.
The indictment alleges that on five separate occasions, from January 17 through January 31, 2017, Cydrus mailed letters threatening to injure numerous government officials, including the President of the United States, federal judges, the FBI and the Federal Public Defender’s Office. Four of the letters were addressed to the FBI and one letter was addressed to the Federal Public Defender’s Office. In addition, two of the letters included a powdered substance as part of the threat, although the powder was determined to be non-toxic.
Mailing threatening communications is a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the FBI and U.S. Secret Service, and Assistant United States Attorney Timothy S. Mangan, who is prosecuting the case.
An indictment merely contains allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
--DOJ Southern District of Ohio