A federal judge ruled the suspected arsonist accused of threatening Escambia County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Pam Childers should remain in custody until his trial because Justin Wright “poses a serious risk of harm to others if released.”
United States Magistrate Judge Zachary C. Bolitho issued the ruling after a detention hearing was held for Wright on Friday, Sept. 26, in which the court heard some of the evidence the U.S. Government has against the 35-year-old New York man accused of cyberstalking and sending a death threat to Childers over money.
Wright has pleaded not guilty and asked to be released and allowed to return to his home state of New York until his Nov. 3 trial in Pensacola on charges of cyberstalking, threatening, and using fire to extort money from Childers.
According to federal court documents, 35-year-old Justin J. Wright of Bay Shore, New York is charged with three felony counts: cyberstalking, attempted interstate extortion of a public official, and use of fire to commit a federal felony offense.
Federal prosecutor David Goldberg shared some of the evidence that the FBI had gathered in Wright’s case including reading a note that was found at the scene of the car that had been firebombed next door to Childers’ that said: “Send the money back or die.”
Goldberg said evidence shows the car had been deliberately torched early on the morning of June 1, 2024, and investigators and Childers believe she was the “intended target” even though the wrong car was burned.
Childers involved in ‘public litigation’ when threatened
The prosecutor said Childers lived nearby in the same Cordova Park neighborhood and was involved in public litigation involving funds around the time she received the death threat.
Goldberg did not specifically mention which litigation he was referencing, but on April 3, 2024, about two months before the car bomb, an Okaloosa County judge ruled that Escambia County’s local option retirement plan for county commissioners was unlawful compensation.
Judge William Stone upheld Escambia County Clerk and Comptroller Pam Childers’ decision to withhold payments after Escambia County sued Childers to force her to authorize payments.
Former commissioner Robert Bender began participating in the plan in 2019, and commissioners Steven Barry and Lumon May began participating in the plan after their reelection in 2020.
Shortly after Stone’s ruling, Childers petitioned the commissioners to return the retirement funds they had received under the plan.
Retirement funds returned: Escambia County returns $200K in ‘unlawful’ commissioner retirement payments
According to the clerk’s office, the total amount of funds returned to taxpayers was $197,156.71.
Federal prosecutor reveals some of case against Justin Wright
Goldberg said a security camera in the Cordova Park neighborhood showed the suspect driving a light-colored van and parking near the car fire crime scene as he went back and forth between the vehicle and the scene of the crime.
He said another camera on Bayou Boulevard also captured images of the van, which turned out to be a U-Haul rented by Wright, investigators said.
Goldberg said Wright then drove the U-Haul vehicle to Lakeland, Florida, where police stopped him because U-Haul had reported the van stolen when Wright failed to return it.
According to federal court documents, 35-year-old Justin J. Wright of Bay Shore, New York is charged with three felony counts: cyberstalking, attempted interstate extortion of a public official, and use of fire to commit a federal felony offense.
Police impounded the vehicle and inside of it investigators found antifreeze, an axe, a gas can and water.
Goldberg said a search of Wright’s cell phone, digital storage accounts, and Google searches also indicated Wright was the person responsible for threatening and extorting Childers.
Goldberg said Wright had searched for and stored information about Childers and her family and that several hours before the June 1 car bomb, Wright queried Google regarding capital punishment and murder including wanting to know the difference between first-, second- and third-degree murder.
The prosecutor said Wright was also using Google to search for Childers’ address an hour before the fire.
“He is the one Google account on the planet in the hour leading up to the crime that was searching for Childers’ address,” Goldberg said.
Goldberg also said once Wright was back in New York after the car bomb digital evidence shows he read Pensacola news reports on the incident.
Goldberg also asked the judge not to release Wright before trial because he has a criminal history of robbery and assault on a fellow inmate while in custody in New York, as well as no stable job or place to live, all of which made him a flight risk.
The federal government said Wright had been living in a motel in New York for the past year or two and he wasn’t welcome to stay with his mother, who also lives in New York, due to “ongoing mental health issues” and a history of not taking his medications as prescribed.
Federal public defender Brennan Abramowitz argued for Wright’s return to New York saying he would work with social services to find work, stable housing, and take his medications.
Arrested for cyberstalking Clerk: A year after car bomb, FBI arrests man for stalking, threatening Clerk Pam Childers
The public defender also said Wright’s family is in New York and it would be better for him to be there as he prepares his defense in an upcoming criminal case he faces there.
Bolitho found the weight of evidence presented by the federal government was “strong” and that Wright is a “high risk” to the community considering the “violent and dangerous crime he is accused of committing.
“Thankfully no one was hurt, but it appears it was to cause great harm,” Bolitho said. “That gives the court pause because he poses a serious risk of harm to others if released.”
Goldberg requested that some of the evidence remain under seal because the case is ongoing and the judge granted his request.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office previously filed a motion saying the details underlying the case need to stay under wraps to protect the interest of the “long-term investigation into violent offenses” and the safety of those involved because “the main subject of the investigation is not yet in custody.”
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Justin Wright to stay in jail until trial for threatening Escambia Clerk