Man who was convicted of threatening to murder a federal judge and prosecutor in Maine now charged with sending threatening letters to the Moakley Courthouse

A Connecticut man who is serving 18 months on a federal conviction in Maine for threatening death against a the judge and prosecutor and an investigator in the sexual-abuse case that got him an addition 11 1/4 years in prison was indicted today for sending more threatening letters, this time in federal court in Boston - where an appeals court is currently considering his bids to reduce both those sentences.

The indictment charges Devin James Melycher, 31, currently a resident of the federal prison in Danbury, with three counts of mailing threatening communications to federal employees at the Moakley Courthouse, where the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit sits.

The indictment does not specify what, or whom, he allegedly threatened.

In December, 2022, he was sentenced for sending letters to people working on the other side of his sexual-abuse case in Maine federal court, including numerous letters to the judge, who said Melycher:

[H]as threatened to murder me, and he has not done so in subtle terms but in very direct terms. On June 6th he said, quote, I am going to fucking murder you one day and you deserve it. And just on August 31 he said, I’m going to fucking murder you, you worthless waste of life.

Normally, that would be grounds for a judge to recuse himself from a case, but the judge wrote he decided not to because he was confident that Melycher - who was representing himself - would just start the same thing with a new judge.

Melycher had been arrested in July 28, 2021 on charges that the year before, he had traveled to Gorham, ME to engage in "illicit sexual conduct" with a 13-year-old girl he had met online.

Melycher eventually pleaded guilty in the case, but, now represented by an attorney, is arguing his sentence is too long. In filings with the appeals court in Boston, most recently just two days ago, his lawyer argues that the sentence takes advantage of "a pro se mentally ill defendant who did not participate in his sentencing hearing" and should be reduced.

Separately, Melycher is appealing the sentence for sending threatening communications, saying it should run at the same time as his sentence for the sex case, rather than in addition to it.

Innocent, etc.