U.S. District Court: Italian man threatened to harm Lopez, family

In the first half of 2016, bomb threats to Cape schools were a weekly occurrence – sometimes more often. 

Evacuation drills became routine as students and teachers braved the cold weather while law enforcement swept the buildings, and lines of cars snaked onto public roadways as worried parents rushed to find their children and bring them home.

Outrage was palpable as authorities sought out a culprit. Amidst the chaos, Sen. Ernie Lopez, R-Lewes, whose district covers the Cape Henlopen schools, issued a statement condemning the bomb threats and labeling the people responsible as cowards. Those words quickly caught the attention of two perpetrators – one living in Israel, the other in Italy – triggering months of harassment against Lopez and his family.

“Within 48 hours, that’s when I started receiving the initial threats,” Lopez said. 

In recently unsealed Delaware U.S. District Court documents, Alessandro Calcagni of Italy was indicted in May 2021 on extortion and conspiracy charges in connection with his threats against Lopez and his family, and also with bomb threats to schools and airports. An American-Israeli man, Michael Kadar, is a co-conspirator who paid Calcagni in Bitcoin or cash for making threats that resulted in police action or successful evacuations of schools or airplanes. Kadar was sentenced in 2018 by a Tel Aviv court to 10 years of prison. According to Kadar’s court documents, he made hundreds of bomb threats to schools and Jewish centers across the country – more than a dozen in Delaware alone.

Court documents reveal a system in which Calcagni and Kadar worked together using techniques known as swatting and spoofing to harass Lopez and his family. Two times, court records state, Lopez received swatting calls that said the caller was holding hostages at Lopez’s home, prompting local emergency responders to swarm the house.In recently unsealed Delaware U.S. District Court documents, Alessandro Calcagni of Italy was indicted in May 2021 on extortion and conspiracy in connection with his threats against Lopez and his family, and also with bomb threats to schools and airports. An American-Israeli man, Michael Kadar, is a co-conspirator who paid Calcagni in Bitcoin or cash for making threats that resulted in police action or successful evacuations of schools or airplanes. Kadar was sentenced in 2018 by a Tel Aviv court to 10 years of prison. According to Kadar’s court documents, he made hundreds of bomb threats to schools and Jewish centers across the country – more than a dozen in Delaware alone.

Using spoofing, a process of falsifying information transmitted to a caller ID display that allows a caller to disguise one’s identity, court records state, Calcagni made phone calls from outside the country.

In one call, court records present graphic details of how Calcagni called and threatened to harm Lopez’s family unless they paid him two Bitcoin – about $1,200 in total value at the time.

Once the phone calls stopped, court records detail equally chilling emails. 

“When I strike, I strike hard …,” one message read. Another stated, “You did not [pay] me the ransom. You are not forgotten. You will be harmed.”

Packages sent to the Lopez family home are detailed in court records. One package contained the drug MDMA, a club drug often referred to as ecstasy or molly. Lopez’s wife at the time received a package containing heroin, and also a second package that had a knife concealed inside a fake credit card. A fourth package mailed to Lopez’s place of employment contained a THC substance. Receipts for the packages were found on Kadar’s laptop, court records state.

Working together, court records state, Calcagni and Kadar sent bomb threats to more than a dozen schools and airports. A draft script for bomb threats was found on Kadar’s laptop which read, “if I see law enforcement I will detonate the explosive device and slaughter lots of children … there is going to be a bloodbath in this school” and “my intentions are to kill as many children as possible.” According to court documents, Calcagni was to be paid $65 for each successful threat, and he could edit or make up his own bomb threat script.

Calcagni faces a total of 17 counts with a maximum penalty of 40 years and $1 million in fines. A defendant page has a not guilty plea written, but it is unsigned and undated.

Kimberlynn Reeves, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said Calcagni remains in Italy after an Italian court denied extradition. She referred further questions to the Italian court.

Lopez said he and his family thank local law enforcement and the FBI for helping them throughout their ordeal.

“We really appreciate that they could have let this case go cold, but they didn’t,” Lopez said. “Here we are six years later and the person has been identified and we know who he is. Even though he’s thousands of miles away, he caused a lot of pain to a lot of people.”

Lopez statement

On April 27, Lopez released the following statement on behalf of his family:

In 2016, students and teachers at schools in Delaware and around the region were forced to deal with repeated bomb threats which caused fear, disruption and trauma. At the time, I publicly stated to the unknown perpetrators, “We will find you.”
With the unsealing of this federal indictment, the public can now be rest assured that the perpetrator has been found. Mr. Alessandro Calcagni, the individual who made these threats and so many others, has been identified and will live the rest of his days with the shameful stain of his cowardly actions. While Mr. Calcagni directed much of his anger towards my family, we were able to shoulder the burden and withstand his hateful attacks through the support of friends and colleagues who stood by us. We especially wish to thank local, state and federal law enforcement officials for not allowing the search for Mr. Calcagni to go cold. This case is now resolved and I respectfully request that members of my family be given privacy and that all future questions be directed to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware.

Editor’s note: This story has been edited from its original version to reflect additional details from court documents and to redact statements pertaining to minors.