HARTFORD — Wilfrido A. Cardenas Hoffman, 31, of El Hatillo, Venezuela, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty on December 11 in federal court to making threatening phone calls to residents of Newtown shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting tragedy in December 2012.

According to court documents and statements which were made in court, on December 16, 2012, two days after the shootings that claimed 26 lives at the school, Hoffman used a voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) computer application on an iPad tablet computer to make numerous phone calls from his home in Venezuela to Newtown residences.

According to a statement from US Attorney for Connecticut Deirdre M. Daly and Patricia M. Ferrick, special agent in charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in one of the telephone calls, Hoffman stated, “This is Adam Lanza. I’m gonna [expletive] kill you. You’re dead. You’re dead. You hear me? You’re dead.”

In another phone call, Hoffman stated: “This is Adam Lanza. I’m gonna kill you. You’re dead. With my machine gun. You’re dead [expletive].”

The investigation revealed that Hoffman made more than 90 calls to approximately 47 telephone numbers of Newtown residences. Not all of the calls were successfully placed and answered.

“As we approach the second anniversary of this terrible event, we remember all of the victims whose lives were lost, and their family and friends who still struggle to manage their grief,” said Ms Daly.

“These threatening calls, just two days after the tragedy, compounded the collective suffering of all of the citizens of Newtown and needlessly stressed law enforcement resources at a critical time. It is reprehensible criminal conduct. We are committed to investigating similar hoax crimes and prosecuting all who commit them, here and abroad,” she said.

“Mr Hoffman’s actions in the days after December 14, 2012, further victimized an already vulnerable community” said Ms Ferrick.

“As a society we simply cannot tolerate this type of heinous behavior. Crimes like this will continue to be a priority of the FBI,” she said.

Hoffman was charged by criminal complaint on May 20, 2013.

The complaint had remained sealed until Hoffman was arrested on June 21, 2014, in Miami as he traveled through Miami International Airport en route to Mexico from Venezuela. He has been detained since his arrest.

The charge of making threatening telephone calls carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000.

Hoffman is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea on February 12.

In light of the defendant’s psychiatric diagnoses and his proposed treatment plan in Venezuela, which has been set forth in detail in a November 24 letter from the defendant’s examining physician at Yale School of Medicine, Hoffman will request a sentence of time already served, and the government will take no position, according to Thomas Carson, spokesman for the US attorney’s office.

The recommendation is not binding on the court. Hoffman understands that he may not withdraw his  guilty plea if the court does not accept the recommendation, according to Mr Carson.