WASHINGTON — Nearly a year and a half after threatening to set off a bomb near the Library of Congress, a man from Cleveland County, North Carolina has pleaded guilty for making the threat.
51-year-old Floyd Ray Roseberry, who lived in the Grover community, appeared before a U.S. District Judge Friday morning for the plea. WCNC Charlotte's content partner WUSA-TV reports he will now face a maximum of 10 years in federal prison. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to drop a more serious charge: threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction. Had he been found guilty of that, Roseberry could have faced a potential life sentence.
A tentative sentencing for Roseberry is set for the week of June 12, 2023.
Roseberry drove his pickup truck from North Carolina to the nation's capitol in August 2021. He posted his demands and threats in a Facebook video, demanding to speak with Pres. Biden. He shared his woes with the health care system and said "the revolution is on" in the video, which was riddled with obscenities.
Investigators said Roseberry had no serious criminal history, but public records reviewed by WCNC Charlotte and WUSA9 showed a history of financial troubles, including a pair of bankruptcy filings within two years of each other. Ultimately, it was determined Roseberry didn't have an actual bomb in his truck but did have what U.S. Capitol Police described as "possible bomb-making materials".
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Roseberry was deemed fit to stand trial and was released to home confinement by a federal judge in August 2022. A psychologist testified that Roseberry had been prescribed the wrong medication to treat bipolar disorder, saying she was "shocked" that he was taking Valium and Adderall. According to her, taking that mixture can trigger manic and psychotic episodes for people living with the disorder.