Temple Terrace Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Death Threats

Andrew Nikhil Aiyar, a 28-year-old resident of Temple Terrace, has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of making federal death threats. The plea, announced by federal officials, means Aiyar faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

The violent messages for which Aiyar pleaded guilty were sent between September and November 2025. Aiyar pleaded guilty to making "interstate threats to kill." His threats were directed at people associated with an American media company. One of the threats included the specific phrase: "I Will Tear Your Family To Pieces".

A sentencing date for Aiyar has not yet been set. Federal law, specifically 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), criminalizes interstate threats and has broadened over time to cover electronic communications, as background information indicates. This statute typically applies to threats crossing state lines, which nearly all digital communications now do.

Aiyar's case reflects an ongoing focus on prosecuting individuals who make such threats. For context, federal prosecutions for communicating threats have seen an increase, with charges against individuals threatening public officials nearly doubling from 38 cases in 2013 to 76 cases in 2023, according to federal statistics. While Aiyar faces a maximum of five years, the median sentencing length for federal threat cases, particularly those targeting public officials, is 24 months. In a related Florida case, Peter Daniel Ring pleaded guilty in February 2026 to federal charges for sending threats to journalists, later receiving a 27-month prison sentence.