A New York man who made over 12,000 harassing phone calls to members of Congress, including threats to kill with a bomb, has pleaded guilty and now faces significant prison time and fines, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia announced.
Ade Salim Lilly, 35, of Queens, N.Y., pleaded guilty to federal charges of interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure and repeated telephone calls.
Lilly made more than 12,000 telephone calls to approximately 54 congressional offices - both in Washington and in districts across the country - between Feb. 1, 2022, and his arrest in Puerto Rico on Nov. 8, 2023. Of the calls, 6,526 were made to offices in Washington, while Lilly was in Maryland or Puerto Rico.
On Oct. 21, 2022, Lilly called a congressional office in Washington and threatened the person who answered. "I will kill you, I am going to run you over, I will kill you with a bomb or grenade," Lilly told the employee. Over a two-day period in February 2023, Lilly called one representative more than 500 times.
In some of the calls, most of which were answered by staffers or interns, an angry Lilly used "vulgar and harassing language."
Congressional staff asked Lilly to stop calling, and the U.S. Capitol Police informed Lilly multiple times that due to their harassing nature, the phone calls he was making were prohibited by law.
"To avoid detection and to trick congressional staff to answer his phone calls, Lilly masked his phone number," the U.S. attorney's office said.
After Lilly was indicted, U.S. Capitol Police sent agents to arrest him in Puerto Rico.
If convicted, Lilly faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the threat charge, and up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the repeated phone calls charge. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 28.
--with reporting by TMX
