Anchorage Man Sentenced to Nine Years in Federal Prison for Stalking and Threatening Former OCS Caseworker, Attempted Extortion of FBI Agent

Anchorage, Alaska – Acting U.S. Attorney Bryan Wilson announced that a man has been sentenced to federal prison for stalking an Office of Children’s Services caseworker, and threatening an FBI Agent, while serving a 10-year sentence in Arizona.

Peter Lee Norris (aka Peter Lee Bjorn Norris, aka Bjorn Erik Haapaniemi,) 56, originally of New York, was sentenced today, by U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Beistline to serve 9 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

According to court documents, in July 2008, the Alaska Office of Children’s Services began investigating a report of suspected sexual abuse of minor children involving Norris. In July 2010, while the State of Alaska Child in Need of Aid (CINA) case was ongoing, Norris was indicted and sentenced to 10 years in Arizona for unlawful sexual conduct he committed against a different child.    

While Norris was serving the 10-year sentence in Arizona, he sent many threatening letters to the Alaska Office Of Children’s Services (OCS), addressed to the former caseworker who investigated the report of suspected sexual abuse of minor children in Alaska. Norris was apparently motivated to take revenge on the caseworker because she had shared information with police and the Court in Arizona. Norris believed that the caseworker’s information resulted in him serving additional time in the Arizona case. Norris sent at least 22 letters over a period of nearly nine years, even after the caseworker was no longer employed with OCS. The letters included demands and threats to harm the victim and others, cyberstalk the victim, hack the victim’s digital files, hack federal systems, State of Alaska OCS and medical and law enforcement files. The victim sought a protective order and Norris violated the order.

During the course of the investigation, Norris sent a letter to an FBI Special Agent in Alaska in which he attempted to extort special treatment regarding his upcoming sex-offender probation in Arizona. Notably, the threat related if his demands were not met, he would “order others to issue mayhem” and noted that he would be “running amok in Homeland Security gunsights.”   

At sentencing, Judge Beistline noted the seriousness of the crime, remarking that Norris committed the offenses to damage dedicated public servants who were just doing their jobs. The Court found that Norris was a danger to the community.

“Federal law enforcement will protect those public servants who protect our community’s children” said Acting United States Attorney Bryan Wilson.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) conducted the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of this case.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonas M. Walker.