D.C. Man Convicted of Threatening Prosecutor

A District man was convicted Wednesday of threatening to killed a federal prosecutor and kidnap her adult son.

Prosecutors alleged that Wayne W. Pannell, 47, paid another man, Darryl Tipps, to call the office of Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Sines in February and threaten to kill her and abduct her son.

Sines was one of the lead prosecutors in a recent homicide trial in D.C. Superior Court. She had subpoenaed Pannell as a witness in the trial. Prosecutors alleged that Pannell and Tipps threatened Sines in hopes of getting the trial postponed or dismissed.

It is not clear from court documents when or whether Tipps will be tried. Tipps's attorney, Manuel J. Retureta, could not be reached for comment. Pannell is scheduled to be sentenced in January.