65-year-old Jay Allen Johnson of Delta Junction pled guilty in U.S. District Court to two counts of threatening to murder a U.S. official, specifically Alaska’s two U.S. Senators. Court documents indicate that he left a voicemail message on September 2, 2021 at the Washington D.C. office of Senator Lisa Murkowski containing several threats, including a threat to ‘burn’ the Senator’s properties.
The investigation revealed that the call originated in Delta Junction from a cellular telephone number linked to Johnson. Then, on September 29, Johnson left another voicemail threatening to hire an assassin to kill the U.S. Senator. Additionally, he left threatening voicemail messages for Senator 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 [expletive].”
In total, Johnson admitted to leaving 17 threatening voicemails 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 U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI and U.S. Capitol Police are investigating the case.