McLean Man Sentenced to 14 Months for Threatening to Kill Public Official

Scott Allen Bolger, 33, of McLean, was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison on June 3, 2026, in the Eastern District of Virginia for threatening to kill a public official.

The scope of the case centers on a single individual whose threat targeted one public official. Bolger will serve the full term of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release, per standard federal sentencing requirements for such convictions.

The sentence changes Bolger's status from pretrial to incarcerated. He must report to the Bureau of Prisons on a date set by the court; upon release he will enter supervised release that includes restrictions on contact with the threatened official and limits on possession of firearms or other weapons.

Downstream, the conviction requires the U.S. Probation Office to monitor Bolger for the full supervision term. It also adds one case to the Eastern District of Virginia's prosecution total for threats against public officials, which in turn informs annual Justice Department reports to Congress on the volume and nature of such threats.

Federal law enforcement agencies use these statistics to allocate resources for threat intake, assessment, and investigation units that screen thousands of tips each year.

This sentencing follows the department's continued emphasis on prosecuting threats against government employees. The Eastern District of Virginia has handled multiple similar cases in recent years under 18 U.S.C. § 115, the statute that criminalizes threats to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm on federal officials and their families.

The Justice Department announced the sentence in a press release issued June 3, 2026.