Federal grand jury indicts Houston woman for threatening to kill Obama

[January 16, 2014]  By Andrea Lorenz Nenque

HOUSTON (Reuters) — A Houston woman who goes by the name "Teddy Bear Paradise" was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday for sending a letter threatening to assassinate President Barack Obama, according to court records.

Denise O'Neal, 57, is accused of sending a letter to President Obama on November 28, telling him she was going to Washington to kill him, court records show. She faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

When U.S. Secret Service agents interviewed O'Neal about the letter on December 19, she told them she intended to carry out her threat, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case.

At that point, the Houston Police Department Crisis Intervention Response Team evaluated O'Neal and found her to be a threat to herself or others and transported her to a local hospital, according to the complaint.

This is the second time O'Neal has been charged with threatening a sitting president.

According to the complaint, O'Neal pleaded guilty to sending letters in 2008 threatening to kill President George W. Bush and threatening to kill her probation officer in 2009 in North Carolina.

She had previously pleaded guilty to sending threatening letters in 2005 in California, documents showed.

(Editing by Brendan O'Brien, Sharon Bernstein and Ken Wills)

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