St. Paul man sentenced for threats against Nancy Pelosi

A St. Paul man was sentenced last week for threatening to inflict "pain in every way" on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Jason R. Karimi, 33, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in St. Paul to one year and one day in prison after pleading guilty to one felony count of sending an interstate communication containing a threat in which he called Pelosi's California office days after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and left a voice mail that said, "Hi Nancy, I want to see you as scared as possible, terrified and [defecating in] your pants."

The call came after news reports confirmed that the Democrat's house in San Francisco had been targeted.

Karimi has blogged for a website that promotes marijuana policy in Iowa called WeedPress, and he's appeared on local television stations there commenting on the industry.

Prosecutors noted in a court filing before Karimi was sentenced that he threatened Iowa Gov. Kimberly Reynolds on Dec. 6, 2019, "in a very similar way" with a vulgarity-laced late-night phone call to the Republican's office.

The two calls, the prosecution argued, "show a pattern developing; that is, [Karimi's] violent and rage-filled comments are only directed at women in power that he disagrees with. This is a significant factor that the court should weigh heavily in favor of a significant prison sentence."

Karimi's defense explained to the court before sentencing that he suffers from bipolar disorder, that he has no violent criminal past, and that the calls were no more than empty threats. Therefore, his attorney continued, Karimi should be sentenced to probation.

Prosecutors countered that "a sentence of probation … does not create deterrence or respect for the law. This was a very serious crime. … It was committed at a time when our country was already under great stress due to the attacks on the Capitol on January 6. … Although mental illness may have played a part in the defendant's actions, the threats were also made because he opposed the victim's political beliefs."

At a hearing in February 2021 via Zoom, Karimi appeared wearing Rastafarian head garb and called himself "reverend."

Karimi said he frequently uses the tactic of "political threatening" to get noticed, according to court documents. He told the FBI agent he once expressed his intentions to a lawyer to "rip his son's guts out" and feed them to the son.