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| Inmate charged for phone threats |
| By Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
| Published: 01/24/2005 |
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An Allegheny County, Pa., Jail inmate has been charged with threatening to kill an FBI agent in tape-recorded calls to his wife from the lockup. Rigonaldo N. Demelio, also known as Ronald Cooley, appeared in U.S. District Court on a charge of threatening a federal officer. According to an affidavit by FBI Agent Robert Smith, Demelio said in a call to his wife on Jan. 5 that he would murder FBI Agent Robert Zalno, who has been investigating Demelio for allegations of fraud. "I'm gonna whack that [expletive]," Demelio said on tape, according to the affidavit. "I swear I'm gonna whack him." Demelio, who lives with his wife, Terri, in Duquesne Heights, had owned Interchance Auto in Sharpsburg before declaring bankruptcy in 1999. According to the FBI, he was in the Allegheny County Jail on an aggravated assault charge. Although the exact circumstances of that case could not be determined yesterday, he was arrested for assault in August after a patron at the Pine Hollow Inn on Forest Grove Road in Kennedy said Demelio had attacked him. Police said he also was on probation at the time of the arrest. A few weeks before that charge was filed, Zalno interviewed Demelio's wife and had her examine documents for possible evidence in a fraud case. On Jan. 5, the agent visited her again to have her examine a check. At the same time, Zalno was periodically reviewing recordings of Demelio's calls to his wife for more evidence in the fraud case. All outgoing calls from the jail are recorded. On Jan. 5, Demelio spoke to his wife three times and she told him the FBI had paid her a visit. He "expressed outrage and scorn against Agent Zalno and his pursuit of the investigation," according to the affidavit. In other conversations, Demelio said he would "get even" with Zalno when he got out of jail. |
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