An elderly Delta Junction man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to two counts of threatening to murder a U.S. official, specifically Alaska’s two U.S. senators. Sentencing will occur at a later date.
Jay Allen Johnson, 65, left a voice mail message on Sept. 2, 2021, at the Washington D.C. office of Sen. Lisa Murkowski containing several threats, including a threat to “burn” the senator’s properties.
“I will find out … where you’re at. I will find out all of your properties. And I will burn everything you hope to have,” he said in the message.
On Sept. 29, Johnson left another voice mail threatening to hire an assassin to kill the senator. Johnson also left threatening voicemail messages for Sen. Dan Sullivan between April 2021 and September 2021, including one in which he threatened to get his “.50 caliber out,” hold a “GoFundMe page for the …shells,” and to come “with a vengeance mother*cker.”
“Resign or get the f— gone, or die,” he said on Murkowski’s office voice mail.
The document says Senator Dan Sullivan got 13 phone calls over a six-month period last year from the same phone number. In several of those message, the caller identified himself as Jay Johnson, and even left his Delta Junction post office box address.
The investigation found the call originated in Delta Junction from a cell number linked to Johnson.
Johnson admitted to leaving 17 threatening voice mails for the two senators over a five-month period and said that the messages were intended to retaliate against the senators for performing their official duties.
As part of the plea agreement, Johnson has agreed to the issuance of a three-year federal protective order following his release from federal prison. The protective order will prohibit Johnson from contacting either U.S. senator, their family or staff members. Johnson faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison for each charge as well as forfeiture of seven firearms, which the FBI discovered in Johnson’s residence during execution of a search warrant. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
“Threatening public officials in an attempt to interfere with the performance of their duties is antithetical to our democratic system of governance,” said U.S. Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr. of the District of Alaska. “To protect the functions of our government institutions and our public officials themselves, the Department of Justice will work to ensure our elected officials can serve without fear of harm.
“The FBI remains steadfast in addressing threats in our communities, including violent threats made against those who are performing their official duties,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Shawn Peters of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “This case underscores the swift efforts by the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners as we worked together to address these threats before any potential acts of violence occurred.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Capitol Police investigated, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Tansey prosecuted the case.
