A federal judge in Miami sentenced a 47-year-old man to two years in prison for posting death threats against Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the social network X (formerly Twitter), the US Justice Department announced on Thursday 12 November 2026. The case is American, not Cuban: Jon Christopher Enriquez was prosecuted in Florida, although one of his posts mentioned Cuba.
Each count carried up to five years in federal prison. He pleaded guilty to all three counts, as the Justice Department announced in early August, and the 24-month term is well below what three counts of up to five years each allow.
What Prosecutors Say He Did
According to the Justice Department, Enriquez published three public posts on X on 27 May. The posts threatened Rubio and Kristi Noem, then the State Department’s special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, a US initiative, with execution at specific times.
14ymedio, a Cuban news site, reported that one post declared both officials guilty of “seditious conspiracy” (a federal charge covering plots against the government) and said they would be executed (our translation). It said another post was addressed to Rubio and spoke about Cuba.
The Sentence and the Law
Judge Beth Bloom of the federal court in Miami sentenced Enriquez to 24 months, the Justice Department said, after he pleaded guilty to three counts of transmitting threats through interstate communications (sending threats online or across state lines). The Justice Department’s plea announcement gave the five-year maximum for each count.
The Diplomatic Security Service, the State Department’s law-enforcement arm, led the investigation, the plea announcement said, with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (the US Navy’s investigative arm), the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (the state police agency), Miami Police and the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (the county sheriff). Assistant US Attorney Nicholas Y. Carré, a federal prosecutor, prosecuted the case, according to that announcement.
File photo of a federal courthouse in downtown Miami. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain.Where Cuba Fits
No Cuban court or official appears in the reports we reviewed, and the case was heard in Florida under US law. One post addressed to Rubio referred to Cuba.
What It Means for You
The sentence shows that federal prosecutors treat online death threats against senior US officials as serious crimes and that a guilty plea ended in a two-year term. The charge, transmitting threats through interstate communications, is a federal offence that covers messages posted on the internet.
We have followed Rubio’s statements on Cuba. See our reports on Rubio’s push for change in Cuba and Trump’s joke about Rubio parachuting into Cuba.
What Is Not Known
The announcements we could read do not give the date of the sentencing hearing. We could not confirm whether Enriquez is Cuban or has ties to the island.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was sentenced for threatening Marco Rubio?
Jon Christopher Enriquez, 47, of Miami. A federal judge sentenced him to two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to three counts of transmitting threats.
Was this a Cuban court case?
No, it was a US federal case in Florida under US law. As reported, Cuba appears only in the content of one of his posts.
What did he post?
He made three public posts on X on 27 May. They threatened Rubio and Kristi Noem with execution at specific times, according to the Justice Department.
What was the maximum penalty?
Up to five years in federal prison on each of the three counts, the Justice Department said when he pleaded guilty. He received 24 months.
Sources: US Justice Department, Southern District of Florida, sentencing announcement; Justice Department plea announcement; 14ymedio, 13 November 2026; Cuba news at The Rio Times.