Lakeland woman accused of threatening insurer won’t be prosecuted

• Charges against Briana Boston, accused of threatening an insurance representative, have been dropped.
• The State Attorney’s Office cited an amicable resolution between Boston and Blue Cross Blue Shield.
• Boston’s arrest, stemming from her use of a phrase linked to a CEO’s murder, drew international attention.

(This story was revised to include new information.)

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 10^th 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.

Blue Cross Blue Shield sought the dismissal of charges

The State Attorney’s Office sent a “case filing evaluation” to LPD that explained the decision not to pursue the charge against Boston. In the letter, Assistant State Attorney Joseph McCarthy wrote that Boston and her family have group health insurance through her husband’s company, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida is the plan administrator.

Boston called the company’s customer service line to ask about the denial of a claim for a recent medical treatment, McCarthy wrote. The representative, based in South Carolina, quickly determined that the claim had been held up because Boston had not updated a coordination of benefits form, as Blue Cross Blue Shield requires annually.

Boston provided the information during the call, and the representative resubmitted the claim for processing, the letter said.

The 10-minute call was recorded, and the service representative remained “courteous and professional at all times,” McCarthy wrote, while Boston “was hostile toward the representative.”

“Due to the menacing tone and implied violence of the threat,” Blue Cross supervisors referred the matter to the authorities, the letter said.

McCarthy indicated that Blue Cross Blue Shield officials sought to have the charge against Boston dismissed.

“During our review of the case, representatives of the victims indicated to us that the defendant had been a good customer in the past, and that they wish to try to amicably settle this matter,” McCarthy wrote. “We have subsequently learned that defendant has made a sincere apology in a statement to BCBS and to the representative, and that both BCBS and the representative are satisfied and not seeking any sanctions against the defendant based on the facts and circumstances, including the defendant’s lack of any prior criminal history and her sincere remorse regarding her offensive conduct in this incident, as well as the victims’ expressed desire for leniency.”

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McCarthy wrote that the agreement between Blue Cross and Boston seemed to be “an appropriate resolution of this matter.”

The Ledger left a voicemail Friday morning with the office of James Headley, Boston’s lawyer. A message was also sent to Boston’s husband, Daniel Boston, who created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for his wife’s legal expenses.

International coverage, and a GoFundMe

As of Friday, the campaign had received $102,147 toward a goal of $120,000.

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, though Boston was allowed to leave home for work, court appearances, attorney and medical appointments, church and weekly shopping.

The State Attorney’s Office had no comment beyond the statement in the case filing evaluation, spokesperson Jacob Orr said. Stephanie Kerr, a spokesperson for the Lakeland Police Department, said the agency does not typically comment on prosecution decisions made by the State Attorney’s Office.

Lakeland Police Chief Sammy Taylor defended Boston’s arrest in December.

“She’s been in this world long enough that she certainly should know better that you can’t make threats like that in the current environment that we live in and think that we’re not going to follow up and put you in jail,” Taylor said, as reported by WFLA.

Boston is a married mother of three, according to news reports. Her arrest drew coverage from such outlets as ABC News, Fox News, the New York Post and the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.