Philadelphia man indicted on charges he threatened Lehigh County officials

Allentown — A Philadelphia man who allegedly threatened Lehigh County officials in a series of telephone messages this summer has been indicted in federal court.

Samuel S. Meeker, 37, is charged in U.S. District Court in Allentown with four counts of interstate communication of threats, which carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Meeker, who was arrested in August and initially charged in Lehigh County Court with making terroristic threats, has been held without bail since he was arraigned in federal court Aug. 26.

Court documents say Meeker left voicemail messages July 22 and Aug. 9 at the Lehigh County Government Center in which he allegedly threatened a county solicitor with force if she did not pay him a settlement in a purported lawsuit.

In the first of the messages, Meeker accused officials in Lehigh, Northampton County and Allentown of being complicit in a conspiracy to murder his father, according to court records. In the second, Meeker allegedly said he wanted Lehigh County “swept from the map,” and totally destroyed by genocide.

When U.S. Marshals attempted to arrest him, Meeker barricaded himself in his Philadelphia apartment, prosecutors said in a motion seeking his detention pending trial.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry S. Perkin noted in a detention order that Meeker has a lengthy criminal record, including five convictions of misdemeanor drug charges, theft, trespassing and criminal mischief, stemming from an incident last year involving his elderly father’s property.

Perkin also noted Meeker owns three guns that the FBI was unable to locate.

Meeker is represented by federal defender James J. McHugh Jr., who could not be reached Friday.