Man pleads guilty to yelling racial slurs, threatening to kill Olympia federal employee

OLYMPIA, Wash. - A Thurston County man has pleaded guilty to threatening to kill a federal employee at Olympia's Social Security Office 

On Feb. 16, 2023, 42-year-old Steven Veres went to the Olympia Social Security Office to get a replacement Social Security card. An employee who was helping him told him that he lacked the proper paperwork to get a new card. 

Veres then became angry and threatened to assault and, per some witnesses, kill the employee.

He also repeatedly yelled racial slurs at the employee, who is Black. 

Veres pleaded guilty to Influencing a Federal Official by Threat. He also agreed to the application of the United States Sentencing Guidelines’ hate-crimes enhancement, which increases his offense level by three levels because he targeted the victim because of the victim’s perceived race or color, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. 

He will be sentenced at a later date and could be facing a little over a year in prison. 

As part of the plea agreement, Grays Harbor County will dismiss an unrelated prosecution against Veres for attempting to elude a police officer.