A Seward man was arrested in Seward Wednesday after a federal grand jury in Alaska returned an indictment charging him with stealing someone’s identity to issue a threat to “bomb and shoot” Alaska’s governor.
According to court documents, on April 12, 2024, Matthew Edward Stanley, 22, used an account with a virtual private network (VPN) service to access the State of Alaska website and send a message to the governor. Stanley allegedly used a different individual’s personal information when addressing the letter, falsely representing that that individual was the one who had sent the threats.
The indictment states the message requested pay rates be raised for “me and my son. Or else everyone at [Victim Labor Union] and my son will take a stand here at Seward.” The message goes on to threaten to “bomb and shoot you with my son.”
Stanley is charged with one count of issuing a threat involving explosives, one count of false information and hoaxes, and one count of aggravated identity theft. The defendant is scheduled for his initial court appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew M. Scoble of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. If convicted, he faces a mandatory sentence of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft, in addition to up to 10 years in prison for his other alleged crimes. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Neither the court documents nor the AST dispatch on the initial incident identified the individual or individuals Stanley impersonated in his threatening message.
U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker of the District of Alaska, Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Pacific Northwest operations, and Alaska State Trooper Colonel Maurice Hughes made the announcement.
HSI and the Alaska State Troopers are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Klugman is prosecuting the case.