Des Moines man indicted for Internet threats, ID theft

A Des Moines man was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Seattle in a case involving Internet threats to shoot or blow up employees at Boeing facilities and at an Anacortes oil refinery.

Gino Augustus Turrella, 46, is charged with 16 counts of Threat by Instrument of Interstate Commerce and Identity Theft, according to news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The indictment charges Turrella with making e-mail threats eight times between May 2 and May 30. Turrella made the threats posing as other people by using e-mail accounts he'd created in their names, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

In e-mails to Boeing, Turrella said he was going to bring a gun to a Boeing facility and "shoot ever [sic] employee I see," and also that he'd "strap himself with explosives and detonate" if apprehended to cause "maximum death and destruction in the workplace!"

In another e-mail, Turrella threatened an Anacortes oil refinery, saying a bomb had been placed at the refinery that he was going to set off via remote control.

Turrella was arrested Tuesday in the parking lot of the REI store in Tukwila. When his home was searched, authorities found more than 100 firearms. He remains in federal custody with a detention hearing scheduled for Friday.

If convicted, Turrella could face up to 10 years in prison for each count of the threats against Boeing and the refinery. He could face up to five years in prison for each identity theft. Conviction for either crime could also result in up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

The case was investigated by the FBI, and the Auburn Police Department, and the Pierce County Sheriff's Department.