A New York man has pleaded guilty to making 12,000 calls to harass members of Congress, including some that involved threats.

Authorities say they have no evidence that Ade Salim Lilly actually intended to kill anyone but he made a cottage industry of disruptive phone calls, including making 500 calls to a single office over two days in February 2023.

All told he targeted 54 offices.

When staffers got fed up and stopped answering he would use the telephone’s *67 service to hide his identity.

The calls began in February 2022 and lasted until Nov. 8 last year, when Lilly was arrested, according to the plea deal he signed.

The calls were usually answered by staff members or interns, who had to face severe abuse. In one case from October 2022 Lilly got irate and made a death threat.

“I will kill you, I am going to run you over, I will kill you with a bomb or grenade,” Lilly admitted to telling the staffer.

U.S. Capitol Police told him his calls were considered harassment and were illegal. He ignored the warnings.

Lilly pleaded guilty to two counts of making a threatening interstate communication.

“Threatening another person’s safety or life is a crime, not protected speech,” said Matthew M. Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. “This case should send a clear message that while people are secure in their rights to express themselves, they are not allowed to threaten people and those who do will be held accountable.”

Authorities said more than half of Lilly’s calls were made to congressional offices in Washington, while others went to district offices.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.