Pleasant Unity man charged with threatening Gov. Wolf pleads guilty to reduced charge

A 29-year-old Pleasant Unity man accused of threatening Gov. Tom Wolf over business closures because of the coronavirus pandemic pleaded guilty to a reduced summary charge of harassment in York County, according to court officials.

Rocco Anthony Naples was facing a third-degree felony charge of threats and other improper influence in official and political matters and related misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats and harassment filed by state police after the May 8 incident, according to court documents.

Instead, he pleaded guilty Wednesday to a nontraffic harassment summary complaint before District Judge Joel N. Toluba and agreed to pay $302 in fines and costs. He was put on a payment plan, records indicate.

Naples was accused of calling Wolf’s former business, Wolf Home Products, on May 8 and telling a customer service employee he was upset that a friend’s business was shut down, state police said.

He told the customer service representative that he “was angry about Gov. Wolf closing their companies but keeping his open, he said that he and a couple of his buddies have a bullet waiting for (Wolf) if he keeps them closed,” according to a criminal complaint.

State police withdrew the more serious charges.

Authorities in the York area contacted the Westmoreland County Probation Office to help identify and locate Naples after the threat. State police took him into custody.

Naples had been free on signature bond since his May 21 arraignment, according to court documents. He could not be reached for comment.

York County District Attorney David Sunday’s office did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Repeated attempts to reach Naples’ private attorney in York, Heather Reiner, were unsuccessful.

Naples has a conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol in Unity in 2017 and is awaiting a hearing in common pleas court Feb. 4 for driving on a suspended license after the DUI conviction, according to court records.