Nevada man’s ‘nasty e-mail’ results in grand jury indictment

RENO, Nev. – An insurance broker has been indicted on charges he sent an e-mail threatening to harm members of an Islamic civil rights group in retaliation for terrorist attacks on Americans.

The e-mail allegedly warned: “You have taught us much about terrorism so get ready to be the receiver.”

A grand jury in Reno indicted Dale T. Ehrgott on March 3 on a charge of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said Friday. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.

Ehrgott said he meant no harm in the e-mail last August to the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“It wasn’t a threat, just a nasty e-mail,” Ehrgott said in a brief telephone interview. “It is an anti-American organization.”

Council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said the group is glad prosecutors “are taking these incidents seriously and acting accordingly.”

Ehrgott is scheduled to go to trial July 13, Bogden said.