June 25, 2002 Man accused of threatening Reid, others
pleads not guilty
By Jace Radke
LAS VEGAS SUN
A Las Vegas man accused of mailing letters that
threatened the lives of four members of Congress,
including Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., pleaded not guilty to a
five-count indictment in U.S. District Court Monday.
Milton Thomas Black, 62, issued his plea to U.S.
Magistrate Judge Robert Johnston and is scheduled to go
to trial July 8 to face charges of mailing and faxing
threatening communications from October to December
of 2001.
According to a previously filed criminal complaint, Black
sent a letter addressed to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Sen.
Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., in
which he complained about being ignored by government
officials.
In one letter addressed to Colorado Gov. Bill Owens there
was a threat made against Reid and CNN host Larry King.
Black allegedly complained in the letter that no one would
pay attention to information he had developed in the
JonBenet Ramsey homicide case.
Black reportedly ended the letter by threatening to douse
Reid with gasoline, just like Clint Eastwood's character
did in the movie "High Plains Drifter," according to the
letter.
Black remains in federal custody without bail.
In an unrelated case Monday, a Las Vegas businessman
pleaded not guilty to five counts of mail fraud.
Richard Raymond Ruppert, 38, is scheduled to go to trial
July 23 on charges of wire fraud.
Ruppert is named in an indictment that alleges he ran a
bank investment scheme from December 1998 to April
2000. The scheme allegedly involved misrepresentations
to investors that their funds would be used to buy
discounted bank notes and securities.
Instead, the indictment alleges, Ruppert converted nearly
all of the funds for his own use, costing the victims more
than $500,000.
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