Philadelphia man guilty of threatening a political party employee seeking to recruit poll watchers
A Philadelphia man is facing up to five years in federal prison after admitting to sending threatening messages to a Pennsylvania political party employee.
John Courtney Pollard, 63, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon to a one-count indictment charging him with making interstate threats, federal authorities announced Thursday.
Authorities said Pollard sent four iMessages in about 10 minutes to a poll watcher working in the Western District of Pennsylvania on Sept. 6, 2024.
The unidentified political party employee was doing some online recruiting of volunteers to help observe at the polls on Election Day and included their name and phone number in a post.
Authorities said Pollard texted the victim that he was interested in being a poll watcher.
Pollard then texted the victim three extremely violent, obscenity laced threats.
The employee’s name and political party were not released.
The FBI conducted the investigation that led to Pollard’s prosecution.
“Ensuring free and fair elections is a cornerstone of our system of government,” said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek. “Threatening those tasked with protecting the integrity of elections will not be tolerated. Threats such as these carry very real consequences. The FBI and our partners will hold accountable anyone who thinks they can weaponize fear to influence our election process.”
Judge Bissoon scheduled Pollard’s sentencing for March 31.
Michael DiVittorio is a TribLive reporter covering general news in Western Pennsylvania, with a penchant for festivals and food. He can be reached at mdivittorio@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.