Homeless man indicted in threats against president

Kim Smith

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2000 | 10:47 a.m.

A 59-year-old South Dakota native was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury on charges he made threats against President Clinton.

Ronald L. Heffele telephoned the Las Vegas office of the U.S. Secret Service Feb. 3 and threatened to kill the president, Joe Saitta, special agent in charge, said.

Agents were able to tell from the phone call that Heffele, who is homeless, was calling from the local Greyhound bus station, Saitta said.

"We went to the bus station, and he was in the vicinity of the telephone," Saitta said. "He was able to articulate that he was the one who made the call. The whole incident was over within 30 minutes."

While the Las Vegas office of the Secret Service investigates several instances in which someone makes direct or veiled threats to those under the service's protection, Saitta said only three or four people are arrested per year.

The Secret Service also investigates people who seem to show an "unusual interest" in a protectee, Saitta said.

It is unclear at this point if Heffele had the means to carry out a threat on Clinton, Saitta said.

"We're in the process of seeing what the threat potential was," Saitta said. "We're investigating where he was and what he's been doing so we can get an educated picture of what the potential was."

Just last week Frank Alexander, a Louisiana resident, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Hagen to life in prison plus 39 years for mailing pipe bombs to Clinton, a Texas evangelist and a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms employee last March.