Palm Springs Man Admits Threatening Congressman

A California man with a multimillion-dollar trust fund has pleaded guilty to making threatening phone calls to the office of U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott of Seattle.

Charles Turner Habermann, 33, of Palm Springs entered the plea Wednesday to one count of threatening a federal official.

Read: Legal Complaint Filed Against Charles Turner Habermann

Habermann admitted he called the Seattle Democrat’s office last December and left two messages, each about four minutes long, after seeing McDermott on television. Transcripts say he began each message with his name and phone number, and went on to threaten to kill the congressman over his opposition to extending tax cuts for the wealthy.

Habermann was also connected to a similar threat made against Assy. Manuel Perez (D-Palm Desert) in March of 2010.

Habermann says he has a $3 million trust fund. One of the conditions of his pretrial release has been that he not withdraw more than $12,000 per month.

His sentencing was set for Aug. 8.