An Italian man is accused of making threats against Sen. Ernie Lopez (R-Lewes) and his family in 2016 in an indictment unsealed in federal court.
A May 2021 indictment against Alessandro Calcagni that was unsealed Wednesday, also listed numerous bomb threats he’s accused of committing against schools and airlines in other states. It also details a call Calcagni made to what he believed was Lopez’s home threatening to kill his children.
Calcagni has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, extortion call to a state senator, four counts of school bombs threats, five counts of airline bomb threats and six counts of conveying false information about bombs on airlines.
An “unindicted co-conspirator” is referenced multiple times throughout the indictment.
The co-conspirator sometimes made threatening calls with Calcagni and/or paid him to make the calls himself, according to court documents.
Calcagni has not been charged with threatening Delaware schools, but in January 2016, Delaware schools were the subject of bomb threats and Lopez was motivated to issue a statement.
That led to a local news outlet sharing a story online titled “Senator Lopez: Cowards making bomb threats will be caught.”
The story was later found on the co-conspirator’s laptop, according to Calcagni’s indictment.
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Shortly after the story was shared, Lopez and his family were the victims of two swatting calls in which the caller said they were holding people hostage at a “residence associated with” Lopez, court documents say. Both calls triggered a police response.
Recordings of both calls were later found on the co-conspirator’s laptop, the indictment says.
In August 2016, Lopez received an email from someone later identified as the co-conspirator’s, according to the indictment, with the subject line: “I want to negotiate not harming you and your family.” The writer said he would “strike” Lopez and his family without warning, court documents say, and go after his children first.
Then, during a nine-day period in August and September 2016, Lopez and his family received four packages appearing to have been mailed from Europe or Canada, court documents say.
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One package sent to his home and addressed to one of his children contained MDMA (ecstasy), according to the indictment. Two other packages sent to his home were addressed to his wife, one containing heroin and another containing a credit card with a small knife inside. A package containing THC was sent to Lopez’s business.
Receipts for the packages were later found on the co-conspirator’s laptop, according to the indictment.
Later in September 2016, Calcagni called a residence he believed to be Lopez’s, court documents say. He addressed the person answering the phone with Lopez’s name and said he would kidnap Lopez’s children “and kill them in my basement” if he was not paid two Bitcoin, court documents state.
Neither Lopez nor any member of his family was physically harmed by Calcagni.
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Lopez released a statement Wednesday night, which said, in part:
“With the unsealing of this federal indictment, the public can now be rest assured that the perpetrator has been found. Mr. Alessandro Calcagni, the individual who made these threats and so many others, has been identified and will live the rest of his days with the shameful stain of his cowardly actions.
“While Mr. Calcagni directed much of his anger towards my family, we were able to shoulder the burden and withstand his hateful attacks through the support of friends and colleagues who stood by us. We especially wish to thank local, state and federal law enforcement officials for not allowing the search for Mr. Calcagni to go cold,” he said.
First elected in 2013, Lopez was the first Hispanic-American to serve on the Delaware Senate, according to his state biography. He announced in July 2021 he will retire this year to spend more time with his children.
