United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that Andrea Rubiano, 49, of Riverview, has pleaded guilty to charges of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce and making false statements to a federal agent. Rubiano faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison, though a sentencing date has yet to be set.
According to the plea agreement, in October 2023, Rubiano sent threatening text messages to 12 Palestinian Americans residing in the Middle District of Florida. The messages included violent language and threats, with one victim receiving messages such as, “Palestinians in Tampa must die!!” and “We took you out of your land like rats, now we are going to get you out of here you f***ing bastards.”
In addition to the threatening messages, Rubiano sent the victim various images, including an Israeli flag, Palestinian flag emojis, and skull-and-crossbones emojis.
After these threats were made, Rubiano was interviewed by a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). During the interview, Rubiano initially denied sending the messages and stated that she would never threaten the victim’s family. However, months later, Rubiano admitted to lying and acknowledged that she had sent the threatening messages in October 2023. She also confirmed that she had lied during the FBI interview.
As part of the plea agreement, Rubiano admitted that she targeted Palestinian Americans and/or Arabic individuals based on their race, religion, national origin, or ethnicity.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lindsey Schmidt.
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