A federal magistrate released a Syracuse man on conditions pending trial after an Oct. 9 arraignment on a charge of threatening the president.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Mitchell Katz handled the court appearance for Christopher Vignogna, 26, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.
The Secret Service is investigating the threat case, with assistance from the FBI’s Albany office and the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Whalen is prosecuting.
The criminal complaint accuses Vignogna of asking a co-worker Oct. 7 to have her boyfriend buy him a gun so he could shoot President Donald Trump at a planned Oct. 9 rally in Syracuse.
The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, a fine of up to $250,000 and supervised release of up to three years.
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