Fired Strip housekeeper gets prison in death threat case

A fired Strip housekeeper was sentenced Wednesday to nine months in federal prison in a bizarre death threat case in which he sent dead cockroaches and pigeon body parts to former employers.

Manuel Espronceda, 54, a Cuban immigrant with a master’s degree in psychology, also was ordered to spend six months at a federal halfway house after prison and then three years on supervised release.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon also ordered him to get mental health treatment.

Espronceda, who came to Las Vegas in 2005 to work in the hotel industry, pleaded guilty in January to one count of mailing threatening communications and six counts of false information or hoaxes. He confessed to sending death threats to his Harrah’s supervisor after he was fired in 2007 and then to his Planet Hollywood supervisors after he was let go in 2012.

His lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender Raquel Lazo, said in court papers that Espronceda while working in housekeeping at Harrah’s was “poked” with a needle that was improperly thrown away and later learned that he was infected with the AIDS virus.

Lazo sought a six-month prison sentence for Espronceda, whom she said has had a difficult time since coming to Las Vegas. Prosecutors asked for two years behind bars.

Espronceda, who is already in federal custody for violating the terms of his pre-trial release, did not address the judge.

According to court documents, Espronceda admitted to mailing threatening packages to his Harrah’s supervisor in 2007 and 2008 and had an associate hand-deliver similar envelopes to his Planet Hollywood supervisors in 2012. He also admitted delivering threatening packages to the Culinary union representative who handled his grievances.

One package contained dead cockroaches, several included pigeon body parts, and most came with a mysterious white powder and a written suggestion that the person soon would be dead.

Detectives and FBI agents assigned to the Southern Nevada Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the threats, and authorities determined that the white powder was not dangerous.

Espronceda told agents he wanted to intimidate the people he believed played a role in his dismissals and unsuccessful grievances.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find him on Twitter: @JGermanRJ.