A former prosecutor finds himself on the wrong side of the law as he's been hit with charges for allegedly sending violent threats to two Illinois State Representatives, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of Illinois released yesterday. Samuel J. Cundari, 30, once an Assistant State’s Attorney in DuPage County, is accused of transmitting threats via the social media platform X, in what appears to be a disturbing string of messages targeting public officials and events.
The twisted saga unfolded when Illinois State Police were alerted on March 17, 2024, to a menacing social media post. The message, warning of a gruesomely violent act involving a woodchipper and the children of two state representatives, was tagged in a post that also mentioned the Illinois Attorney General. "Our patience grows short with you. The day we put your kids' feet first into a woodchipper so we can enjoy their last few screams is coming," Cundari allegedly threatened. But the former legal eagle didn't stop there; a few months later, he seemingly suggested a bomb plot targeting the Springfield PrideFest.
According to the complaint, a concerning post turned up in response to an advertisement for the PrideFest on May 18, 2024. The message chillingly detailed how to make an explosive device and implied it should be used at the event, stating: "I sure hope NOBODY leaves a pressure cooker filled with bail bearings, glass, and nails, filled with diesel fuel and fertilizer, with the over pressure safety valve disabled, near a natural gas line line [sic]. That would be VERY sad and VERY unfortunate."
Investigators tracked the social media posts back to Cundari, possibly revealing a darker side of the lawman-turned-lowlife. If he's found guilty of communicating an interstate threat, he could be looking at up to five years behind bars. The heinous nature of the allegations has rattled the local community, encapsulating fears of political violence and hostility in an already polarized climate.
With assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Springfield Field Office and multiple other agencies, including the FBI offices in Chicago and Indianapolis and local Illinois law enforcement, the case against Cundari is ramping up. It's being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Seberger, with the potential of three years supervised release and fines up to $250,000 hanging over the ex-prosecutor's head. While the charges are merely accusations at this point, and Cundari remains innocent until proven guilty, the gravity of his alleged words has certainly tipped the scales of public opinion against him.
