A Georgia man accused of threatening to murder U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and her staff pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single charge of interstate threats in the federal trial court in Atlanta.
Sean Patrick Cirillo, 34, appeared before U.S. District Judge Victoria M. Calvert and changed his previous plea of not guilty. Cirillo, of Macon, faces up to five years in prison and three years of supervised release as well as a $250,000 fine. He is due to be sentenced on Nov. 7.
Cirillo was arrested in November after federal prosecutors alleged he called Greene’s congressional office in Washington, D.C., and told staff members that he would kill the Rome Republican the following week.
“I got a bead on her. Like a sniper rifle. A sniper rifle,” Cirillo said about Greene on Nov. 8, according to his indictment. “And I’m gonna kill her next week. I’m gonna murder her. I’ll kill you too if you want. You’re gonna die. Your family is gonna die.”
Cirillo has been on bond since April, living with his uncle in Macon, case filings show. Prosecutors had no objection Tuesday to him remaining on bond until his sentencing.
According to public records, Cirillo has been arrested multiple times in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina since 2009, mostly for driving-related offenses.
In November, Cirillo was unemployed and living alone in the Atlanta area, court records show. He had ended a job as a data engineer with Home Depot in August 2023, his attorney told the court.
Cirillo thrice called Greene’s office from a cellphone while in the Inman Park neighborhood of Atlanta, prosecutor Bret Hobson said Tuesday. An FBI agent stated in an affidavit that Cirillo threatened to shoot Greene in the head, then told her staff to warn the FBI.
“You don’t think it’s gonna happen when you’re out of power?!” Cirillo allegedly said during a call. “You don’t think you’re gonna get payback?!”
In a call several hours later, Cirillo acknowledged that he had earlier threatened Greene and her staff, Hobson said. He said Cirillo was apprehended the following day at his DeKalb County home, where he told FBI agents that he had called Greene’s office to get attention.
Cirillo told the judge Tuesday that he did not dispute prosecutors’ allegations and understood the consequences of his actions.
A federal magistrate judge noted in a November order that Cirillo had a mental illness and was not taking his medication.
Allison C. Dawson, Cirillo’s court-appointed attorney, sought his bond in April, stating that he hoped to get a job and participate in mental health counseling. Dawson said there was no evidence that Cirillo had taken any steps to carry out the alleged threats.
Cirillo graduated from the University of Georgia in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and attended graduate school at Wake Forest University in North Carolina in 2016 and 2017, Dawson said.
Greene, who has represented Georgia’s 14th congressional district in Northwest Georgia since January 2021, is one of the most recognizable and controversial members of Congress. She is a darling of the far-right wing of the Republican Party and often a villain among Democrats. Threats against her and other politicians are common.
Members of Congress have expressed concerns about safety, especially after a 2017 shooting while lawmakers practiced for a charity baseball game and after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“Threats to murder elected officials should never be tolerated,” Greene said in a statement after Cirillo’s arrest. “It doesn’t matter your political affiliation, no one should threaten your life for doing the job you were sent by the people to do.”
A spokesperson for Greene did not immediately respond to an inquiry about Cirillo’s guilty plea.
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