BOONE COUNTY, Ky. — A Boone County man has pleaded guilty to threatening and cyberstalking a U.S. congressman and U.S. senator, according to court documents.
On Friday, 55-year-old Benjamin Keebler pleaded guilty in federal court to cyberstalking and threatening communications charges. As part of Keebler's plea deal, prosecutors dropped the other two charges he was facing.
In January, Keebler was investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police and indicted for using a cell phone to harass and intimidate a U.S. congressman between February 2023 and May 2025. According to the indictment, Keebler, on separate occasions, called a phone system affiliated with the congressman and threatened to injure him, including shooting him in the head at a town hall. Keebler also threatened to lynch the congressman, according to the indictment.
Keebler's indictment also says he used a phone to call a phone system affiliated with a U.S. senator, threatening to injure them, as well. While threatening the senator, Keebler said, "somebody needs to come to (the Senator's) house and do a ... hammer visit," according to the indictment.
Neither the congressman nor the senator was named in Keebler's indictment.
After Friday's hearing, Keebler will remain out on bond until he appears in court Thursday, July 30, for his sentencing.
