Briana Boston
Florida woman arrested on ridiculous charges in a textbook case of malicious prosecution.
During Boston’s first court appearance in December, Circuit Court Judge Catherine Combee found probable cause to proceed and set bail of $100,000. Combee confined Boston to home arrest and GPS monitoring
As of January 2025, Briana Boston is still facing charges and is still on house arrest after posting bond.
FEBRUARY 21 UPDATE: Charges against Briana Boston, accused of threatening an insurance representative, have been dropped.
Prosecutors have dismissed the case against a Lakeland woman arrested in December and accused of threatening an insurance company representative during a phone call.
The State Attorney’s Office for the 10th Judicial Circuit filed a “no bill” order on Feb. 14 for the charge against Briana Boston. The Lakeland Police Department arrested Boston on Dec. 10 on a charge of written or electronic threats to kill or do bodily injury.
Boston’s arrest gained international news coverage because she allegedly used a phrase in talking to a representative of Blue Cross Blue Shield — “Delay, deny, depose” — that was written on shell casings found at the murder scene of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 in New York City. Luigi Mangione has been charged with Thompson’s murder, which revealed a deep vein of public frustration over the practices of health insurance companies.
Boston, 42, was talking by phone on Dec. 10 with the insurance representative about recent medical claims that were denied, according the arrest affidavit. Near the end of the call, Boston said, “Delay, deny, depose. You people are next,” the affidavit stated.
The FBI contacted the Lakeland Police Department “regarding a possible threat to life,” the affidavit said. LPD Detective Stephen Bonczyk, a task force officer with the FBI’s Tampa Bay Safe Streets Task Force, interviewed Boston at her home the same day she made the call.
Boston acknowledged using the phrase “Delay, deny, depose” and apologized, the affidavit said. She said she had learned of the phrase from news coverage of Thompson’s shooting, according to the affidavit.
Boston told the detective that she did not own any firearms and was not a danger to anyone, the affidavit stated. She “further stated the health care companies played games and deserved karma from the world because they are evil.”
“Based on the aforementioned statements made by Boston and based off of current events, I believe these statements were meant to threaten the insurance company by using the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s homicide to her advantage,” Bonczyk wrote.
The detective charged Boston with “written threat to kill or injure; conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism,” a second-degree felony.
GoFundMe: gofundme.com/f/support-briana-bostons-legal-defense