Tampa dentist RICHARD GLENN KANTWELL, D.D.S. threatened rape and murder against people he perceived as insufficiently deferential to DJT, including Colorado Secretary of State. TRUMP supporting RICHARD GLENN KANTWELL, D.D.S.claims to be a "Christian/." Pray for RICHARD GLENN KANTWILL to recover from his DJT cult affiliation. From Tampa Bay Times:
Tampa dentist gets 2 years in prison after making more than 100 online threats
A Tampa dentist who pleaded guilty to sending online threats to multiple people, including a presidential candidate, was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday.
Richard Glenn Kantwill was arrested in June after prosecutors said he sent more than 100 online messages threatening injury or death, even after FBI agents told him to stop.
Kantwill, 61, pleaded guilty in November to sending threats to three people in 2019 and 2020 and to an election official in 2024, equaling four counts of interstate transmission of a threat.
FBI officials characterized Kantwill’s actions as an “almost year-long campaign of terror” during which he targeted 40 people, hurling racial and homophobic slurs at some.
Federal prosecutors sought a sentence of 33 months in prison followed by three years of probation, according to court records.
In federal court Tuesday, Kantwill stood with his hands on the defense table and hung his head upon hearing his sentence. He turned around to face the friends and family seated behind him and grimaced.
Kantwill spent 8½ months in jail since his arrest and will receive credit for time served. When he is released in a little more than a year, he will be paroled for three years, a federal judge ruled. The dentist also received a $10,000 fine and will be required to participate in mental health and substance abuse programs.
Prosecutors presented a few of the threats made by Kantwill, including an email to an author, an Instagram message to a television personality and a text message to a religious leader.
In the text, Kantwill made death threats to a person he identified as a “fake Reverend.”
“Being the anti-Christ piece of s--t that you are, we are going to kill you. Torture first, then death,” the message reads.
The victim installed nearly $4,500 worth of surveillance cameras “due to his genuine fear of Kantwill,” court records state.
Kantwill also threatened to cut out the heart of a cable news network host’s young son and present it to the TV personality and his wife “while it is still beating.”
In September 2019, the dentist wrote to one victim: “God bless the Great President Trump and his family. F--k you and yours. Hire extra security ... you’re gonna need it.”
On Oct. 1, 2019, the campaign of a candidate “running to be the nominee for President of a major political party” reported Kantwill’s messages to local law enforcement, court records state.
Later that month, the FBI interviewed Kantwill and told him to stop sending the messages.
Kantwill admitted to sending the threats but told federal agents he was a “keyboard warrior” who was on a “verbal tirade” and did not intend to take any violent action.
He blamed “the government, minorities and others for his behavior,” investigators said.
Shortly after the interview, Kantwill texted an FBI agent a middle finger emoji and wrote, “F--k you,” prosecutors said.
“Despite the FBI’s warning, Kantwill spent the next 10 months sending threats to over 40 victims,” a court motion states.
In court Tuesday, U.S. Department of Justice trial attorney Aaron Jennen repeated Kantwill’s threats to friends and family members who took the stand as character witnesses.
He asked if the dentist’s words changed their opinions of him. All replied no.
Kantwill’s friend and pastor, Mark Frier, said he has known Kantwill to become “overexcited” when the pair discussed politics, but that he had never heard him threaten anyone.
I understand his loyalty and his patriotism is what drove him,” Frier said.
Maria Restrepo, Kantwill’s wife, also defended her husband. She said the couple has gay and Black friends and Kantwill “never acted racist with anyone.”
“My husband is not what they say,” she said. “He is very kind and a lovely person.”
Restrepo said Kantwill hid this interaction with the FBI from her, but that she had caught her husband writing threats as early as 2019 and was unable to convince him to stop.
Investigators said Kantwill’s stream of abuse included at least seven additional threats to four public figures via Facebook from April 2022 to April 2024, including a threat to an election official in another state on Feb. 9, 2024.
“Take note because liberal (expletive) like you get raped in alleys,” one message sent to a politician via Facebook states. “You are our number 1 target, you degenerate (expletive).”
Kantwill also boasted about his large weapon collection in Facebook messages and sought to buy “automatic and highly illegal” firearms from another Facebook user, investigators said.
Asked how many guns Kantwill owned, his wife estimated there were about 50 weapons kept at home.
Kantwill, now convicted of a felony, will no longer be able to possess a firearm.
The dentist also wrote about “enjoying the violence of his military service,” posting publicly on Facebook that he “loved creating widows and orphans.”
But in court Tuesday, Kantwill and his lawyers painted his time at war as traumatic and the root of his substance abuse issues.
Court records state Kantwill served in the Army as a combat field medic in the Gulf War. He received an “other than honorable” discharge in 1992 due to marijuana use, which his lawyers said he used to self-medicate.
Kantwill’s lawyers argued for a departure from the sentencing guidelines, citing his age, his military service and a psychological evaluation at the Pinellas County Jail that found the dentist had developed depression and post-traumatic stress disorder during the war. They added that Kantwill battled alcoholism most of his life and was often drunk when he sent online threats.
In 2007, Kantwill broke the terms of an agreement to voluntarily withdraw from practicing medicine after he relapsed on alcohol, according to Florida Department of Health disciplinary records. He stopped attending required group sessions and performed dental services during the relapse. Kantwill received a reprimand and a $3,000 fine from the Board of Dentistry.
Health department records do not indicate he was disciplined after his arrest last year. He has an active license to practice dentistry that expires in February 2026. Kantwill is required to notify the board of his felony convictions after his sentencing.
The dentist was last to speak before U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven delivered his penalty.
He gave a slew of reasons for his behavior, including his lifelong battle with alcohol and a relapse after the recent death of his father. Kantwill also indicated he was duped by right-wing rhetoric despite being an “educated man.”
“I, ignorantly, jumped on the Trump train,” he said. “I bit the bait hook, line and sinker, and I can’t tell you why.”
He said his words did not represent how he was raised as a middle-class kid in the Chicago suburbs. Instead, they were the foolish and irrational ravings of a drunk man, Kantwill said.
“I am extremely remorseful for my actions. I count this as the biggest regret of my life,” he added. “I would like to return to being a good Christian man.”
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