McCrudden gets 28 months for threatening regulators

A Long Island man convicted in July of threatening the lives of more than 40 financial regulators, including top officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, was sentenced to 28 months in prison Friday.

Vincent McCrudden, 51, who lived in Long Beach and Dix Hills, apologized at his sentencing before Judge Denis Hurley in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, saying he "would never have intentionally caused bodily harm to another human being."

McCrudden, a former commodities trader and asset manager, said he was motivated by a history of being treated unfairly by financial regulators. Among them, he said, were the National Futures Association and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

But Hurley admonished him, pointing out that McCrudden posted notices online offering rewards of $100,000 for the hunting and killing of the regulators.

Hurley said such behavior "could have resulted in a disaster. Thank heaven it didn't."

Hurley noted that twice before in 2007, McCrudden threatened people in the financial industry in Chicago. Instead of jail time, he was ordered to get counseling.

In addition to prison, McCrudden was ordered Friday to receive anger-management treatment after his release.

In a plea deal to two counts of transmitting threats to kill, McCrudden could have gotten a maximum sentence of 37 months. He has been in jail since he was arrested 15 months ago.

McCrudden's attorneys, William Keahon and Sarita Kedia, asked that their client be spared additional jail time. They have said he was engaging in political commentary, and those named should not have taken the postings seriously.

But one of the 47 regulators threatened by McCrudden said in court papers that after getting the threatening email he went out to walk his dog and found himself looking for "anyone lurking."

"That is the type of apprehension that an explicit death threat creates, not only for me, but also for my family and friends," the man said.

McCrudden was arrested in January 2011 shortly after six people, including a federal judge, were killed, and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was wounded by a gunman in Arizona.

Federal prosecutors Christopher Caffarone and James McMahon declined to comment after Friday's sentencing.