San Francisco , California ( CNN ) -- A man accused of threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wept Thursday as he talked to his attorney before a federal court hearing . Gregory L. Giusti , 48 , was charged with making obscene , threatening or harassing phone calls . He was not asked to submit a plea and remained in custody pending a further hearing . A Justice Department news release said the maximum penalty for the charge was two years ' imprisonment and a fine of $ 250,000 . Giusti was arrested Wednesday in San Francisco , where Pelosi 's home district is located , according to FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler . Pelosi is the top Democrat in the U.S. House and was a leading figure in efforts to win congressional approval of sweeping health care legislation . A statement from Pelosi 's office said the arrest occurred `` after an investigation into threats against '' the speaker . It thanked law enforcement officials and said Pelosi would have no further comment at this time . Threats against U.S. senators and representatives increased as Congress completed work last month on the health care bill , which was unanimously opposed by Republicans . In addition , conservative activists around the country protested the bill . Most of the reported threats were against Democrats , though there were some against Republicans . On Tuesday , the Justice Department announced the arrest of a 64-year-old Washington state resident for allegedly issuing death threats against Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state , who supported the health care bill . A department statement said the suspect , identified as Charles Alan Wilson of Selah , Washington , made the threats in phone messages to Murray 's office between March 22 and April 4 . Wilson allegedly stated that Murray `` had a target on her back '' and that he wanted to kill her , according to the statement , which said the threats were in response to congressional passage of the health care bill . CNN 's Dan Simon contributed to this report .
NEW : Gregory L. Giusti speaker remains in custody pending a further hearing . Guisti , 48 , is accused of making threats against FBI Speaker Patty Murray . House says arrest occurred `` after an investigation into threats against '' Pelosi . A man was arrested 48 for alleged threats against Sen. Nancy Pelosi , D-Washington .