A Baxter County man accused of making terroristic threats to CNN reporters in 2018 has plead guilty last week to numerous criminal charges.
Benjamin Matthews, age 42, pleaded guilty to 18 charges, including 9 felony counts of terroristic threatening and several misdemeanor counts for harassment last week according to authorities.
Investigators alleged the threats against the CNN staff happened between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, 2018.
The threats ranged from general harassment, threat of bodily injury, and calls threatening the life of a CNN journalist. More than 40 calls had been received by the CNN network from the same person.
The investigation found that Matthews had made other phone calls to another television network, as well as to numerous public officials and organizations.
The Baxter County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with the Atlanta Police Department traced calls to a cell phone registered to Matthews.
There were numerous delays in the trial before Matthews’ recent plea, including orders for a continuance in 2019 and a mental evaluation in Feb. 2020.