A Florida man is set to be sentenced later this summer after admitting in federal court to leaving threatening voicemails in Tri-Valley Rep. Eric Swalwell's congressional office.

Michael Shapiro of Greenacres, Florida, pleaded guilty last month as part of a deal to settle the case dating back to his January arrest. He was accused of threatening a member of the U.S. Congress. While public statements and indictments from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida do not name the lawmaker involved, Swalwell has confirmed it is him, and other court filings refer to alleged threats that point to a background connected to the local congressman.

“I send my sincere thanks to the Department of Justice for bringing a violent individual to justice and protecting my family and my co-workers,” Swalwell (D-Livermore) told the Weekly in a statement released by his office.

“MAGAism has created an environment that rewards violence and intimidation,” he added. “We must continue to make it clear to them that there are consequences. They want to silence critics of Donald Trump by any means necessary. These threats do not scare me and will not stop me from serving my constituents. I am not going anywhere.”

Attempts to contact Shapiro's public defender, Kristy Militello, were unsuccessful. The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment, citing its policy of not commenting on ongoing cases.

The investigation began after a man called Swalwell's Washington, D.C., office five times on Dec. 19, 2023, and left a voicemail message filled with profanities and insults in which he threatened the congressman and vowed, “I will kill your children,” according to a statement of facts filed May 17 as part of Shapiro's guilty plea in federal court.

Shapiro, then 72, admitted telling investigators after his Jan. 3 arrest that he remembered leaving a drunken voicemail at the congressman's office saying, “Fang Fang, you set up the Chinese spy,” but denied in the interview that he made any direct threats, according to the court document.

“When asked about the transcribed statements from the voicemails about the killing of the Congressman and his children and whether anyone might feel threatened, the defendant responded 'absolutely.' However, he stated that he never intended to harm,” the offer of facts signed by Shapiro states. “He asked the agents to tell the Congressman 'that I regret if I caused any harm to his family.'”

Sentencing against Shapiro is scheduled for August 7 by U.S. District Judge David S. Leibowitz in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

It would be the second time since 2022 that an out-of-state man has been convicted of threatening the well-known Tri-Valley Democrat. Joshua Hall, then 24, of Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 20 months in a federal prison for making threatening phone calls to Swalwell.

Shapiro's arrest came the same month that national news outlets reported on unearthed comments made by conservative politician Roger Stone calling for Swalwell's assassination in 2020. The U.S. Capitol Police reportedly launched an investigation after the headlines broke in January.

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