Seward man arrested for identity theft, threatening governor

A Seward man who allegedly used an assumed identity to threaten to “bomb and shoot” Gov. Mike Dunleavy was arrested last week following a federal grand jury indictment.

Matthew Stanley, 22, is charged with one count of issuing a threat involving explosives, one count of false information and hoaxes, and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to a Sept. 6 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Alaska.

He was arrested Sept. 4 in Seward.

Homeland Security Investigations and Alaska State Troopers are investigating the case.

According to the release, Stanley allegedly used an account with a VPN service on April 12 to access the State of Alaska website and send a message to Dunleavy requesting that pay rates be raised for “me and my son. Or else everyone at [Victim Labor Union] and my son will take a stand here at seward.” The message goes on to threaten to “bomb and shoot you with my son,” according to the release.

Stanley allegedly used a different individual’s personal information when addressing the letter, falsely representing that that individual was the one who had sent the threats.

If Stanley is convicted, he faces a mandatory sentence of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft and up to 10 years in prison for his other alleged crimes.

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