{"id":52629,"date":"2024-12-16T16:04:03","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T21:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=52629"},"modified":"2024-12-16T16:05:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T21:05:00","slug":"lakeland-woman-accused-of-threatening-insurance-company-is-out-on-bond-after-receiving-donations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2024\/12\/16\/lakeland-woman-accused-of-threatening-insurance-company-is-out-on-bond-after-receiving-donations\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakeland woman accused of threatening insurance company is out on bond after receiving donations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Lakeland woman has drawn international attention for her arrest last week after she allegedly\u00a0uttered the phrase \u201cDelay, deny, depose\u201d\u00a0on a phone call with an insurance representative, and donations have poured into a GoFundMe account set up for her legal expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Briana Boston, 42, faces a felony charge of \u201cwritten threat to kill or injure \u2014 conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism.\u201d She pleaded not guilty in a first court appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boston\u2019s arrest followed the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 in New York City. Luigi Mangione, 26, has been charged with Thompson\u2019s murder. Bullets and shell casings found at the murder scene reportedly bore the handwritten words \u201cdelay,\u201d \u201cdeny\u201d and \u201cdepose,\u201d in an apparent reference to tactics used by insurance companies to avoid paying for medical coverage or claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boston received pre-trial release after posting the $100,000 bond set by Circuit Judge Catherine Combee. The judge confined Boston to home arrest and GPS monitoring, though Boston is allowed to leave home for work, court appearances, attorney and medical appointments, church, and weekly shopping.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boston called the Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance company on Dec. 10 to discuss two recent medical claims that had been denied, according to an arrest affidavit. Near the end of the recorded call with a representative, Boston said, \u201cDelay, deny, depose. You people are next,\u201d the affidavit states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company notified the FBI, which contacted the Lakeland Police Department. The LPD detective who filed the arrest report, Stephen Bonczyk, is assigned to the FBI Tampa Bay Safe Streets Task Force, the affidavit says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The detective interviewed Boston at her home in Lakeland on the same day as the call. She acknowledged making the statement and apologized, according to the affidavit, saying she had learned of the phrase from news coverage of Thompson\u2019s shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boston told the detective that she did not own any firearms and was not a danger to anyone, the affidavit states. She \u201cfurther stated the health care companies played games and deserved karma from the world because they are evil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBased on the aforementioned statements made by Boston and based on current events, I believe these statements were meant to threaten the insurance company by using the United Healthcare CEO\u2019s homicide to her advantage,\u201d the detective wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boston paid $10,000 to secure the $100,000 bond payment from Premium Bail Bonds in Bartow, records from the Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office indicate.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The State Attorney\u2019s Office for the 10th Judicial Circuit has not yet indicated whether it will prosecute Boston for the original charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boston is a married mother of three, according to news reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media outlets across the United States and beyond have reported on Boston\u2019s arrest, reflecting the intense interest in Mangione\u2019s case. Thompson\u2019s murder has galvanized anger toward the practices of health insurers, even as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and other elected officials have condemned the act of violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Boston, Briana\u2019s husband, created a\u00a0GoFundMe account<\/a>\u00a0to raise money for her bond payment, legal fees, and other expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of Monday afternoon, the campaign had received more than $35,000 toward a goal of $45,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBriana and myself continue to be amazed and overwhelmed by the support from around the world; it is greatly appreciated and we cannot give enough thanks,\u201d Daniel Boston wrote in an update Sunday on the account web page. \u201cWhile we cannot comment on the details of her case, contrary to some reporting her legal status has not changed at this time, other than she is no longer physically incarcerated. If for some reason this were to change and we are guaranteed she is no longer in legal jeopardy, this GoFundMe campaign would be ended as soon as possible. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the donors contributed comments on the account page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cAlmost 2 years ago, when I had cancer, my insurance refused a test meant to assess the severity and spread of it because \u2018your condition is not bad enough yet,\u2019 \u201d one woman wrote. \u201cThey wanted to wait for me to get worse instead of establishing a baseline to help my treatment. Thankfully, my experienced surgeon had a workaround. Your pain is felt by many, Briana, and voicing it is a 1st amendment right!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another contributor wrote: \u201cWhat’s being done to you is pure political theater. You should never have spent a single second in prison. After you are acquitted I highly recommend seeking legal recompense against the state of Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c15 years for words spoken in perfectly understandable frustration at health insurance companies who bankrupt, betray, and kill tens of thousands of their clients each year???\u201d a man commented. \u201cSuch excessive sentencing by the judge isn’t a sign of strength from the elites \u2014 it’s proof of their fear and weakness. The eyes of the world are watching. Hang in there. Support and kind thoughts for you and your family from the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lakeland Police Chief Sammy Taylor last week defended Boston\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe\u2019s been in this world long enough that she certainly should know better that you can\u2019t make threats like that in the current environment that we live in and think that we\u2019re not going to follow up and put you in jail,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson did not comment Monday on a question about any calls the department might have received in response to Boston\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Lakeland woman has drawn international attention for her arrest last week after she allegedly\u00a0uttered the phrase \u201cDelay, deny, depose\u201d\u00a0on a phone call with an insurance representative, and donations have… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"12","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNFwvMTJcL1NjcmVlbnNob3QtNzItNC1wbmcud2VicD9maXQ9Mzc4JTJDMzQ1JnNzbD0xIiwidHh0IjoiTGFrZWxhbmQgd29tYW4gYWNjdXNlZCBvZiB0aHJlYXRlbmluZyBpbnN1cmFuY2UgY29tcGFueSBpcyBvdXQgb24gYm9uZCBhZnRlciByZWNlaXZpbmcgZG9uYXRpb25zIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJoaWdod2F5IiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.YsX2h4jjGbC6tOEheeprQmUqSmG4aiVYlfufpc0KOyYMQ"},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":52506,"url":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-72-4-png.webp","type":"image\/png"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[10524],"class_list":["post-52629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-lakeland-woman-accused-of-threatening-insurance-company-is-out-on-bond-after-receiving-donations"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52629"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52630,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52629\/revisions\/52630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}