WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Maryland resident was sentenced on Tuesday to more than a year behind bars for making thousands of threatening and harassing telephone calls to dozens of congressional offices across the country.
Ade Salim Lilly’s telephone harassment campaign included approximately 12,000 telephone calls over the span of 19 months to more than 50 offices for members of Congress, according to prosecutors. They said Lilly threatened to kill a congressional staff member during one of the calls.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly sentenced Lilly to 13 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to online court records.
Lilly was arrested in Howard County Feb. 3, 2023, and had warrants for his arrest in Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties.
Prosecutors recommended sentencing Lilly to 18 months of incarceration, arguing for a need to deter others from engaging in similarly threatening behavior. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger testified last year that threats against members of Congress had increased by approximately 400% over the previous six years.
“This is an election year, and more and more often, criticism of a political position or viewpoint crosses the First Amendment line and leads to true threats of violence,” prosecutors wrote. “The pervasive rise in threats against elected officials creates a real risk that expressions of violence will become normalized.”
Lilly pleaded guilty in May to two charges: one count of interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure and one count of making repeated telephone calls.
As part of his plea agreement, Lilly is barred from contacting 911 or any emergency services in Howard Country or any other Maryland public safety emergency number, unless he has a bona fide emergency requiring assistance. Lilly is also barred, as part of the plea agreement, from contacting the business Busboys and Poets in Hyattsville, the Maryland Chair of the Health and Government Operations (HGO) Committee or any staff of the HGO Committee, and the Maryland Speaker of the House of Delegates or any staff of the Speaker.
Lilly moved from Maryland to Puerto Rico during his harassment campaign, which lasted from roughly February 2022 until November 2023. He called one lawmaker’s Washington office more than 500 times over a two-day period in February 2023, prosecutors said.
