A McLean man who fired off a “bullet between your eyes” text to a former Kennedy Center president is heading to federal prison for 15 months, after what prosecutors describe as a masked Google Voice message that spiraled into years of online harassment and public doxxing.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, 33-year-old Scott Allen Bolger was sentenced Wednesday to a year and three months in prison after pleading guilty to transmitting threats in interstate commerce. Prosecutors said the case began with a text sent on Dec. 23, 2025, and that the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force handled the investigation.
Threat and target
Court filings and news coverage identified the recipient of the threat as Richard Grenell, the former Kennedy Center president. Prosecutors said the Dec. 23 text told the recipient to “Step on U Street and get a bullet put between your eyes, loyalist pig skin p---y.” As reported by The Washington Post, Bolger first called Grenell to confirm his personal phone number, then followed up with the threatening message.
Victim speaks at sentencing
Grenell delivered a victim-impact statement at the hearing and later told reporters he was “rattled” to be in the same courtroom as the man who threatened to kill him, according to CBS News. CBS reported that the judge imposed a 15-month prison term followed by three years of supervised release, and Grenell said he believed the sentence was adequate.
Charges and court record
Bolger pleaded guilty in February to transmitting threats in interstate commerce. In his plea, he admitted creating multiple fictitious accounts on X and Proton Mail to harass a second, non-public victim, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Court documents filed in case No. 1:26-cr-8 note that the charge carries a maximum possible penalty of five years in prison.
How investigators traced the threat
Local reporting and court filings say Bolger used a Google Voice account linked to a fake email address in an effort to hide his identity. Investigators traced the account “based on information in a law enforcement database,” then went to his McLean apartment. There, officials say he initially identified himself as “Brian Black” before admitting who he was. He was arrested on Dec. 26 and indicted in January. As reported by FFXnow, prosecutors had asked the judge for a two-year prison term followed by three years of supervised release.
Why this matters locally
The case played out in Fairfax County because Bolger lived in McLean and his threats reached a high-profile Washington figure, underscoring how anonymous messaging tools can be turned against both public officials and private citizens. DC News Now and other outlets reported that prosecutors also pointed to alleged doxxing and the public posting of indecent images as part of what they described as a pattern of harassment.
