Former Suny Buffalo State Graduate Student Sentenced For Transmitting Threatening Communications

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
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FAX:            (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y.- Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Benjamin Bolton, 32, of Glendale, Colorado, who was convicted of transmitting interstate communications containing threats to injure the person of another was sentenced to 30 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Lamarque, who handled the case, stated that the defendant was admitted to SUNY Buffalo State College as a graduate student for the Fall 2013 semester. As a result of incidents at the school that included disputes with faculty members, Bolton was suspended from the college in April 2014. Beginning in June 2015 and continuing until August 5, 2015, the defendant made numerous telephone calls to faculty and staff personnel employed at SUNY Buffalo State, and to officers of the Buffalo State University Police Department. During many of these calls, Bolton threatened to assault police officers, faculty, and staff members, whom the defendant identified by name. 
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Adam S. Cohen and the Buffalo State University Police Department, under the direction of Chief Peter Carey.