Man Sentenced to More Than Three Years in Federal Prison for Threatening Law Enforcement and Illegally Possessing Firearms

ROCKFORD - A Machesney Park, Ill. man has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for threatening to assault and murder federal law enforcement officers and unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition.

JACOB BALABUSZKO, 28, admitted in a plea agreement that after an FBI Task Force Officer and an FBI Special Agent interviewed him in 2020 and 2021 as part of an official investigation, he threatened, "Next time you two come to my house unannounced, I'm going to shoot you on sight, that is a threat." Balabuszko made additional threats in a Signal chat group, inciting others in the group to kill law enforcement officers and collect their badges, shoot out their tires, and burn down their homes. Balabuszko admitted in the plea agreement that he had the capacity to carry out these threats by illegally possessing firearms, ammunition, and body armor in his home.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston sentenced Balabuszko to 41 months in federal prison.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. The Illinois State Police assisted in the investigation. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Ladd.