2nd person charged with threats to official

A second person has been charged with allegedly threatening a federal prosecutor for her handling of a case against a group of purported white supremacists.

Federal grand jurors this week indicted a man with one count of mailing a threatening communication and another of conspiracy to impede an officer. Court documents allege that the man encouraged an unknown co-conspirator to send the threatening letter.

The letter, sent in early March, said it was the prosecutor's fault the men, alleged members of the Soldiers of the Aryan Culture, were in jail. The letter reportedly referenced the street on which the prosecutor lived and concluded with "We will get you."

Grand jurors in December handed down identical charges against a woman, alleging she mailed the Feb. 28, 2004, letter. She is in jail pending trial on the charges.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah charged 12 men in December 2003 with federal racketeering charges, accusing them of carrying out various violent crimes to further the power of their organization. They are scheduled to stand trial later this year.

Federal prosecutors in December reported that a second threat had been received by members of the prosecution team, leading U.S. Magistrate Samuel Alba to cut off all telephone and in-person contact between the men and their families, and ordered that their mail be monitored. The action led to a brief courtroom brawl between the defendants and federal marshals.

The men have denied being the source of the threats, and several have challenged the legality of such severe restrictions.