Man who mailed threatening letters gets two-year term

By: Vic Monaco
   A Croydon, Pa., man has been sentenced to two years in jail for sending threatening letters to municipal entities and school districts, including East Windsor Regional.
   James Thomas Weed, 55, was sentenced June 15 in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia by Judge Cynthia M. Rufe to two years incarceration and three years of supervised release, which is the same as probation. He also was ordered to write a letter of apology to the schools in question and to otherwise have no contact with them.
   Mr. Weed, who worked for Buck County Piano Co., turned himself in to the FBI Jan. 19. He admitted to sending eight letters, received between Nov. 1 and Nov. 6, threatening violence akin to that which occurred in October at a schoolhouse near Lancaster, Pa. Five children were killed in that incident. Mr. Weed said he sent the letters to make the public aware that certain police departments utilized racial profiling and that he added a reference to the Amish schoolhouse shootings to ensure the letters would be noticed, according to an FBI affidavit.
   "He said in court that he believed he was the victim of racial profiling by local law enforcement," said Prosecutor Jose Arteaga. "That seemed to be what set him off. He became so frustrated that he basically lashed out."
   While an FBI affidavit said Mr. Weed is anAmerican Indian, Mr. Arteaga said his background was not entirely clear because he was adopted at a very young age.
   The letters, all postmarked from Trenton, were sent to the violations bureaus in East Windsor and Middletown, Pa; a school in Milford; the Pennsbury (Pa.) School District and specifically the district’s Oxford Valley Elementary School, both in Falls Township, Pa.; and three newspapers including the Herald.
   The letter sent to the Herald stated, "Racial profiling will stop. We are going to take a walk through one of your elementary schools. It’s going to be Amish School House Week."
   All of the letters indicated they had been sent by a Dick Lewis, after which there was a racial reference followed by "Sniper From Hell."
   The local letter prompted heightened security at East Windsor Regional schools for several weeks and the closure of the schools on Election Day because of the increase of foot traffic that day.
   School Superintendent Ron Bolandi said this week that he wasn’t satisfied with the sentence.
   "That doesn’t seem nearly enough for all the anxiety he caused my kids and staff," he said.
   But Mr. Arteaga said he was "very happy" with the judge’s sentence. He said the judge took into consideration that Mr. Weed had no prior felony convictions, had a stable employment history, never followed through on his threats and was "very cooperative" with law enforcement officials after turning himself in.
   Each of eight counts, filed for each letter sent, carried a maximum sentence of five years but a potential 40-year sentence was "not the reality," Mr. Arteaga aid.
   The FBI probe had revealed that Mr. Weed, as a contract employee for Bucks County Piano Co., had traveled frequently in central New Jersey and Bucks County and specifically made service calls to the school in Milford and to a school in the Pennsbury district. It also concluded that Mr. Weed had indeed received traffic tickets for maintenance of lights in East Windsor and Middletown. In addition, a badge number referred to in the local letter had been worn by an officer who had worked for the East Windsor Police Department from about July 1995 through April 30, 2006.
   Mr. Weed remained free on bond and will be designated for a specific jail in 30 to 45 days, Rich Manieri, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said June 15.
   Mr. Arteaga said Mr. Weed could be freed after 20 months, depending upon his behavior in jail.
   Reporter Matt Chiappardi contributed to this story.