South Hills man sentenced for threatening federal agent

A federal judge today sentenced a South Hills man to time served after he pleaded guilty to threatening a federal agent.

Regonaldo Demelio, 41, was a self-employed contractor in 2005 when he was arrested on unrelated state assault charges. He was under investigation by the FBI for defrauding clients.

While being held in the Allegheny County jail, Demelio told his wife to “pipe down” during a recorded phone conversation so that he could talk directly to the federal agents who would be listening to the recording. Demelio then threatened to “whack” Special Agent Robert Zalno, who was leading the investigation.

A federal jury convicted Demelio in 2005 of threatening the agent, and he was sentenced in 2006 to six years in prison and three years of probation. U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab agreed in December to vacate the sentence because of errors by Demelio's original lawyer and ordered a new trial.

Demelio told the judge that in the last eight months he has been under the care of Dr. Robert M. Wettstein for bipolar disorder and intermittent explosive disorder. During that time he said he's lost the anger that made him a career criminal.

“I'm not the same guy you sentenced six years ago,” he said. “I ruined my entire life. I became a career criminal.”

Schwab also sentenced Demelio to three years of probation with a condition that he continue to receive mental health treatment.