A Panama City man is heading back to federal prison for more than six years after admitting he threatened to violently attack a witness who helped law enforcement in a previous drug case.
Thomas Zachary Breeding, 41, was sentenced to a total of 77 months in prison following his guilty plea to charges of retaliation against a federal informant, interstate transmission of threatening communications, and violating the terms of his supervised release.
According to federal court documents, the incident centered on a series of Facebook messages Breeding sent on May 31, 2024. In the messages, Breeding lashed out at an individual he blamed for his prior imprisonment, labeling the person a “rat.” The threats were graphic, with Breeding promising to “break” a “knife off” in the victim’s “guts.”
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Investigators determined the threats were direct retaliation against the individual for providing information to federal agents during a previous investigation into Breeding’s cocaine distribution operation. At the time he sent the Facebook messages, Breeding was still on federal supervised release stemming from that drug conviction. By sending the threats, he admitted to violating the conditions of his supervision.
“I appreciate the excellent investigative work by our state and federal law enforcement partners that led to this successful prosecution,” U.S. Attorney Heekin said. “My office has zero tolerance for those who threaten our communities with violence, and we will aggressively prosecute such offenses to keep our residents safe.”
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The court handed down a split sentence to address both the new crimes and the breach of trust from the prior case. Breeding received 47 months for the retaliation and threat charges, plus an additional 30 months to run consecutively for the supervised release violations.
“DEA and our law enforcement partners will not stop protecting our communities from traffickers pushing poisons into our neighborhoods and threatening the safety and security of those helping us do just that,” said DEA Miami Field Division Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter. “This man was convicted of distributing cocaine and then threatened members of the community who wanted his actions stopped.”
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