Click here for original press release regarding indictment and arrest

January 29, 2009

TIMOTHY GUTIERREZ APPEARS IN COURT AND IS ADVISED OF CHARGES PENDING AGAINST HIM

Timothy Gutierrez, age 20, of Cortez, Colorado, appeared this afternoon before La Plata County Court Judge Martha Minot at the La Plata County Courthouse for his initial appearance.  Gutierrez was arrested yesterday by the FBI for sending threats via the internet.  The hearing took place in state court because U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge David West, who is assigned to the Durango area, was not available to handle this afternoon’s hearing.

Judge Minot advised Gutierrez of the charges pending against him.  She also ordered Durango lawyer Michael Goldman to represent him in court appearances in Durango.  Once in Denver, the judge ordered that a federal public defender be appointed to represent him.  The government requested that the defendant be detained pending a hearing next Tuesday, February 3rd at 4:00 p.m.  At that hearing, which will take place in U.S. District Court in Durango, Magistrate Judge West will arraign the defendant and decide what conditions of bond, if any, should be imposed.

Gutierrez is charged with sending threatening emails from Cortez, Colorado to the FBI in Washington, DC.  The first email threatened then President-elect Barack Obama.  The second threatening email said that C4 would be used to damage or destroy property at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Emailing a threat carries a penalty of not more than 5 years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine.  Threatening to use an explosive device carries a penalty of not more than 10 years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service.  The hearing today was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dondi Osborne.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Mydans.

The charges contained in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

 

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