Florida man who threatened to kill Tyler Trent's mother at funeral pleads guilty

A Florida man who threatened to kill the mother of Tyler Trent at the funeral of the late Purdue University superfan, author and anti-cancer advocate has pleaded guilty, according to federal court documents. 

A petition to enter a plea of guilty was filed on Oct. 18 in in U.S. Southern District Court for John Matthew Pinkham, 40.

The petition states that Pinkham is pleading guilty to one count of threats to injure, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of five years of imprisonment; a $250,000 fine; and a term of supervised release not to exceed three years.

A change of plea and sentencing hearing for the case has not yet been scheduled, according to online court records. 

Court documents say that Pinkham, using the name Julie Homan, made threatening comments on Trent's Facebook page shortly after the 20-year-old died of a rare bone cancer.

Police began searching for Pinkham before Trent's Celebration of Life to prevent any possible harm against Trent's mother, court documents said.

Through Facebook's legal process, investigators were able to obtain the email address registered to the Facebook name and the ID attached to the profile. Authorities also got the profile's registered phone number.

Court documents say the phone number was found to be serviced by T-Mobile/Metro PCS. Through T-Mobile, officers were also able to get the cellphone's IP address that was last used to connect to the Facebook account.

Police used the phone number to trace the IP address used to connect to the Facebook account. Detectives went to the IP's residential address in Deltona, Fla. and found Pinkham sitting on the front porch and he was taken into custody. Authorities say Pinkham denied sending the messages and tried to blame the threats on his girlfriend.

IndyStar reporter Crystal Hill contributed to this story.

Call IndyStar reporter Justin L. Mack at 317-444-6138. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack.