August 24, 2025 – A federal grand jury returned an indictment Thursday against Stanislav Yelizarov, 35, an inmate in the United States Penitentiary, Atwater, charging him with threatening the family of a federal official, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to court documents, Yelizarov had been previously convicted in the District of Maryland and was undergoing further proceedings in the District of Maryland and the Fourth Circuit. The prosecutor in those cases was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Maryland.

On March 23, 2024, Yelizarov, using a recorded prison telephone line, communicated a threat to the Assistant U.S. Attorney that he intended to kill the prosecutor’s “whole family.” Yelizarov had previously sent threatening letters to the prosecutor.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California was assisted by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Maryland and the Eastern District of Virginia. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Veneman-Hughes is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Yelizarov faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Source: DOJ Release