Florida man who left creepy voicemails and threatened to kill top Democrat and his young kids sentenced to shocking amount of time in prison

A 73-year-old Florida man will be thrown in prison for two years for calling Rep. Eric Swalwell's office and threatening to kill him and his children. 

Federal prosecutors said Michael Shapiro left five threatening messages at the California Democrat's Capitol Hill phone line on December 19, 2023. 

'I'm gonna come after you and kill you [expletive],' the messages said. 'I'm gonna come and kill your children you mother-[expletive]. I'm gonna kill your children,' said one call.

In another call Shapiro called him a 'Chinese spy' and invoked his involvement with suspected Chinese spy 'Fang Fang.'

After his arrest in January, Shapiro told officers he had been drunk at the time and only remembered making one call, and that he never intended to harm anyone. 

He pleaded guilty in federal court to a felony charge of making a threatening communication in interstate commerce. 

In 2019, Shapiro had also pleaded guilty to making threatening calls to another person.  

In March of this year, Shapiro was indicted for allegedly making hate crime threats against the Council on American-Islamic Relations ('CAIR') Michigan Chapter.

Around the same time period - from December 8 to December 15, 2023 - Shapiro called the Muslim group and said: 

'I'm going to kill you bastards. I'm going to kill you bastards.'

'I'm going to kill you m****r f*****g bastards. Muslims! I'm going to kill you m****r f*****s. I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!'

'You're a violent people. Why do you come to America? Why do you come to Europe? M***** f******. You're violent. You're killers. You're rapists. I'm going to kill you m****r f*****s!' 

'No threat is going to stop me from representing my constituents,' Swalwell responded on X.

Swelwell went on to blame 'MAGA' Republicans for spurring the hate spewed by Shapiro.

'MAGA Republicans have chosen violence over voting and this is what it looks like. But I'm not going away and neither should you,' he continued.

A Chinese national named Fang Fang or Christine Fang, targeted up-and-coming local politicians in the Bay Area and across the country who had the potential to make it big on the national stage, including Rep. Eric Swalwell.

Swalwell's ties to Fang Fang sparked a House Ethics Committee investigation opened in 2021 into his conduct.

The committee ended up not taking any disciplinary action against Swalwell, and closed out the investigation last year, but issued a letter warning lawmakers about the threat of foreign infiltration.

'Members should be conscious of the possibility that foreign governments may attempt to secure improper influence through gifts and other interactions,' the letter stated.

Fang Fang left China to go to college in the U.S. in 2011, and then worked on developing relationships with key lawmakers, including Swalwell, in order to get access to sensitive information.

She reportedly raised money for his 2014 campaign and attended a number of events that the congressman attended.

The FBI, who was investigating Fang Fang, first brought their concerns to the congressman in 2015. At that point, Swalwell said he broke off any contact with the suspected spy.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy kicked Swalwell off of the House Intelligence Committee last year due to his Fang Fang connection.

Shapiro allegedly made the phone calls from his Greenacres, Florida, home.

In another of the five total messages starting around 7:18 p.m. ET, he said 'You [expletive] a confirmed Chinese spy. You [expletive], [expletive], you [expletive], you [expletive]. You [expletive] a Chinese spy. Fang Fang.'

Swalwell and his wife Brittany have three children named Nelson, Cricket and Hank.

He proudly writes that their kids are 'growing up as Democrats' on his official website.