For years, a Boise man harassed strangers by mailing postcards. Now he will go to prison
A man who led what prosecutors deemed a “crusade of harassment” against strangers was sentenced on Friday to four years and three months in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge David Nye sentenced Frank Abbott Sweeney, 76, after an extreme case of harassment. Sweeney pleaded guilty to six counts of stalking. He was sentenced to 51 months in prison on each count, but they will be served concurrently.
Sweeney’s use of the U.S. Postal Service to harass strangers ultimately led to an indictment in March.
Deputy U.S. Attorney Kassandra McGrady said Sweeney’s case was unlike any other she’d seen in her time as a prosecutor. The harassment began after Sweeney had a brief interaction with a woman in a post office parking lot. She had confronted him about being parked in a handicapped parking spot without a handicapped tag on his vehicle.
The mild interaction led to Sweeney’s hiring of a private investigator to find the woman’s residence, her personal information and her family members’ names, and then sent a barrage of harassing postcards to her home.
The postcards included harassing language, references to Adolf Hitler, racial slurs, sexually charged language and personal insults, according to McGrady. He signed the postcards as “Carson Wells,” the name of the character who is a hit man in the movie “No Country for Old Men.”
Sweeney also sent postcards to the victim’s neighbors claiming that the victim was a sex offender and pedophile, which is untrue. He also sent a threatening postcard to the Idaho Black History Museum using racial slurs and signed the letter in the victim’s name. That letter led to the victim being investigated by the FBI, but authorities quickly identified that she was a victim.
Additionally, Sweeney sent postcards to convicted murderers who are incarcerated, such as Joseph Duncan — a notorious serial killer — and signed the postcards as being from the victim. Those postcards resulted in the victim receiving letters from various inmates around the country.
The harassment went on for three years, and the victim tried to avoid Sweeney by changing her residence and having her mail forwarded to a P.O. box, but Sweeney continued to find her, McGrady said in court.
Another family Sweeney harassed using the postcards included a person Sweeney had a brief interaction with in the parking lot of a business in Garden City. Sweeney also sent that person harassing postcards until he was arrested a couple of months later.
McGrady argued that Sweeney went to great lengths to not be caught by authorities, such as wiping his fingerprints from the postcards, buying the postcards with cash, and mailing them from different locations around Boise and Garden City.
Defense argues client has mental illness history
Defense attorney Elisa Massoth argued that her client has a serious history of mental illness, including schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder. He was also the victim of several attacks when he was previously incarcerated, including one that left a large scar on his face.
Massoth argued that when Sweeney was arrested, he cooperated with police and admitted to the allegations. He pleaded guilty to all six charges because he did not want to put the victims through a trial, she said.
The defense argued that Sweeney’s mental illness has been a problem since he was as young as 7, and it is not compounded by any drug or alcohol addictions. Massoth asked for a lesser sentence, noting that because her client is already 76, a 51-month sentence could essentially be a life sentence.
Sweeney maintained that his intent in sending the postcards was not to threaten the victims.
When asked whether he wanted to speak prior to sentencing, Sweeney told Judge Nye, “My intent in sending the postcards was only to embarrass and humiliate the victim, never to frighten.”
Sweeney’s criminal history is lengthy and dates back to age 18. He has six prior felony convictions, three of which were federal crimes, according to the prosecution. Prior convictions include attempted homicide, robbery and weapons charges. In the 1990s, Sweeney was convicted for shooting a police officer in New Jersey with a machine gun.
He has convictions for harassment through the U.S. Postal Service and harassing his neighbor in a similar way.
Nye made note Friday that during Sweeney’s incarceration prior to sentencing, he was disciplined for attacking another inmate.
The judge said he had taken into consideration the defendant’s lengthy history of mental health problems, but he felt that the three years of harassment by Sweeney showed a “calculated, intentional behavior.”
When Sweeney is released from prison, he will be required to serve three years of supervised release.
This story was originally published December 13, 2019 at 12:16 PM.
