Former NUWC Worker From Newport Sentenced For Phone Threats: Feds

PROVIDENCE, RI — A Newport man was sentenced in federal court for making threatening phone calls to his former co-workers at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Middletown and the Portsmouth Police Department, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Luis Sanchez Pardella, 38, was sentenced to time served and another two weeks to be followed by six months in a residential reentry center, two years of supervised release, and no contact with the victim for transmitting threats in interstate commerce, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a media release.

Starting in July 2022 and continuing through February 2023, "Pardella made numerous, and at times threatening, telephone calls to at least eight of his former colleagues at NUWC," the release said. "In one instance, Pardella left a voicemail stating, 'I will kill you and your wife when I see you on the street.'”

Then, from December 2022 until February 2023, "Pardella made multiple threatening telephone calls to the Portsmouth, Rhode Island, Police Department, stating that an officer and his wife 'will be going to jail,' that 'the Portsmouth Police Department is corrupt,' and, in reference to the officer’s wife, 'write down (name redacted) is dead … the wife of one of your cops is dead,'" the release said.

In the release, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles C. Calenda called the threats "calculated attempts to instill fear in public servants and their families."

“No one should be subjected to repeated harassment, threats, and intimidation for simply doing their jobs, especially public servants, but that’s exactly what happened when Luis Sanchez Pardella unleashed his vitriolic words on his former colleagues,” Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, said in the media release.

“His actions instilled genuine fear in the victims he targeted, disrupting their lives, and eroding their sense of security," Docks said.

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