A LaFargeville man awaiting sentencing in federal court on a charge that he sent threatening letters signed as the “Chinese Zodiac Killer” was charged Tuesday by state police with weapons counts alleging he possessed illegal guns at his residence at the time of his initial arrest in May 2022.
Jesse S. Bartlett, 45, who is presently in federal custody in Albany County, is charged with third- and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession. He was arraigned Wednesday in Jefferson County Court based on an indictment warrant issued by the court.
According to state police, the charges are a result of the investigation and execution of a search warrant in May 2022 at Mr. Bartlett’s residence in the town of Alexandria by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, state police and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Mr. Bartlett was allegedly found to be in possession of two illegally possessed long guns and expandable magazines that were in violation of the state’s Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013, or Safe Act.
Mr. Bartlett is due to be sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court, Albany, after pleading guilty Dec. 10 to mailing a threatening communication. In that matter, he admitted that from around April 2021 to May 2022, he mailed threatening letters to news outlets, government offices, houses of worship, and private businesses throughout New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the District of Columbia while signing the letters as the “Chinese Zodiac Killer.”
Among the people to whom the letters were sent, according to court documents, are President Joseph R. Biden, New York Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and Rep. Elise M. Stefanik, R-Schuylerville.
In the letters, Mr. Bartlett wrote that he killed people, ate their flesh, and that he was going to kill more people including threatening to “WIPE OUT A SCHOOL BUS DRIVER.” The letters to politicians and law enforcement read in part: “EVERY MONTH SINCE NOVEMBER I HAVE KILLED BOTH MALES AND FEMALES,” and “IT IS POSSIBLE THAT I AM KILLING INDIVIDUALS WHOSE IDENTITIES ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO TRACK (I.E., HOMELESS, RUNAWAYS, ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS), AND DESTROYING ALL EVIDENCE SO EFFICIENTLY.”
An affidavit in support of the criminal complaint states that on May 12, 2022, Mr. Bartlett was seen wearing blue latex gloves placing envelopes into a blue U.S. Postal Service collection can in Watertown and at a post office drop box in Clayton.
At sentencing Wednesday, prosecutors are recommending to Chief Judge Brenda K. Sannes that he be sentenced to 16 months in prison for the threats, followed by three years of post-release supervision. His defense attorney is asking for a sentence of time served, which would equate to 10 months and 10 days.
Following arraignment Wednesday in County Court, he was ordered held on $10,000 bail on the weapons charges.