Crime & Law
Quincy Man Accused of Sending Envelopes With Suspicious Substance to Illinois Politicians
A letter allegedly containing a suspicious substance recovered by FBI investigators on Oct. 21, 2026. (U.S. Department of Justice)
A downstate man who allegedly mailed envelopes containing a suspicious substance along with the message “HAH enjoy the gift” to multiple Illinois Congress members now faces federal charges.
Matthew Unglesbee, 36, of Quincy, has been arrested on counts of mailing threatening communications and committing a hoax after he allegedly sent similar letters to the offices of at least four elected officials this month.
“Mailing unknown substances to congressional offices creates fear and disrupts the public institutions vital to our democracy,” Ryan Presley, special agent in charge of the FBI Springfield Field Office, said in a statement.
An eight-page complaint unsealed Monday in the Central District of Illinois states that on Oct. 16, the FBI received an anonymous tip from someone who allegedly overheard Unglesbee in a restaurant saying that he had sent suspicious substances in the mail to different members of Congress.
Days later, FBI agents in Chicago reported to the offices of three different local Congresspersons which had reported receiving such envelopes. A staffer at one told investigators that when they got one envelope, they immediately called 911 because it “felt like it contained a powder.”
They had been on alert, they said, after receiving a similar envelope within recent weeks and contacted other Congressional offices in the area.
According to the complaint, the letters contained a “white granular substance” and a handwritten letter which stated “HA HA.”
On Oct. 23, FBI agents responded to a fourth Congressional office and recovered another envelope, again containing a similar substance, with a letter that read “HAH enjoy the gift,” according to the complaint.
All four of the letters were postmarked from Springfield with Unglesbee’s name listed as the return address, the complaint states.
Springfield FBI agents interviewed Unglesbee at his home Sunday, at which point he allegedly confessed to sending the letters. He told investigators he got the idea after overhearing someone else talk about other such envelopes being sent earlier in October, the complaint states.
Unglesbee allegedly claimed he was joking, but said he knew the letters would be taken seriously and the offices would have “hazmat come in white suits,” because the substances resembled anthrax, according to the complaint.
Preliminary testing of the substance at a state lab found no presence of chemical or biological toxins, the complaint states, and Unglesbee allegedly told investigators it was salt.
While the complaint does not name the recipients, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth along with U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley, Brad Schneider and Jan Schakowsky have each stated publicly that their offices received similar envelopes.
Unglesbee is scheduled to appear in court for a detention hearing Wednesday.
