Today in Springfield’s federal court, Michael Andrew Rodgers, 32, was sentenced to 15 months in prison, after pleading guilty to one count of threatening interstate communications and one count of extortionate interstate communications.
According to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office,
On April 5, 2023, Rodgers posted a threat on the Google review page of a Springfield medical practice that stated: “They gonna get what’s coming soon. […] Will be there in the morning to get them myself one way or another. Locked and loaded.” Beneath this text, Rodgers included an image of a hand holding a gun. On April 6, 2024, Rodgers submitted a threat through a fraud reporting website for the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General with the intent to extort Social Security disability benefits. Specifically, Rodgers stated: “I m gonna start taking what I need. By any means nessacary. […] GIVE ME MY MONEY OR IM GONNA START DROPPING PEOPLE.  YOULL NEVER FIND MY WEAPONS SO STOP LOOKING AND GIVE ME MY CHECK.  […]  NEXT TIME I SLICE SOMETHING OPEN. IT WONT BE ME. ITLL BE ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN ILL MERC A WHOLE SCHOOL AND NOT GIVE A F***. […] SO YOULL BE MY FIRST TARGET IF YOU KEEP REFUSING TO HELP ME.”
Rodgers was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni. His prison sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release