A federal judge ruled against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in her request to force an upstate New York man, who was convicted of threatening her, to pay for a security fence at her home.
Joseph Morelli pleaded guilty in February to making several calls last year to the congresswoman's office in Washington, D.C., and leaving threatening voice messages. Greene sought restitution for the fence and the reconfiguring security cameras at her Georgia home that she deemed necessary for her safety, reported the Associated Press.
U.S. District Judge Brenda Kay Sannes denied the request in a ruling issued Tuesday, finding that federal law allows restitution when there is a property loss, but not for "personal security enhancements," for which she noted that Greene's campaign had paid.
The judge also pointed out that Greene's attorneys did not establish that the security upgrades were directly linked to Morelli’s threats.
Greene's campaign had paid $65,257 to build a fence and $1,375 to reconfigure the security cameras, according to campaign finance filings first reported by the Raw Story.
"The campaign expenditure is legal due to FEC rules allowing candidates greater ability to spend campaign cash on personal protection," that reported noted, "but spending more than $65,000 on her home fence stands out in a district where $54,634 was the median household income for a whole year in 2020."
The 51-year-old Morelli was sentenced to three months in prison and three years of post-release supervision.
