Miami, Florida – A 34-year-old Palm Beach Gardens man who hurled a chair at, and threatened to kill, an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) after receiving an unfavorable jury verdict has been sentenced to 80 months in federal prison.
On November 7, 2019, a South Florida federal jury found Christopher Tavorris Wilkins guilty of committing various firearms and witness tampering crimes. As members of the jury left the courtroom after delivering their verdict, Wilkins picked up a chair close to him and flung it at the AUSA prosecuting his case, barely missing the prosecutor. While Deputy United States Marshals worked to restrain the defendant, Wilkins yelled at the AUSA that Wilkins would kill him.
Wilkins was charged in a separate case with assaulting and threatening to kill a federal prosecutor. A jury found Wilkins guilty, and U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon sentenced him to 80 months in prison. This sentence will run consecutive to the 210-month sentence that Wilkins received on the underlying gun and witness tampering convictions. In short, Wilkins can expect to spend the next 24 years in federal prison.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Gadyaces S. Serralta, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Florida; and Christopher A. Robinson, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
The U.S. Marshal’s Service for the Southern District of Florida and Miami ATF investigated this matter. Assistant United States Attorneys Ajay J. Alexander and Brooke E. Latta prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-60037.
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