Man gets 32 months in prison for threats to kill Alaska senators

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA >> A rural Alaska man who threatened to assassinate both of Alaska's U.S. senators in a series of profane messages left at their congressional offices was sentenced Friday to 32 months in prison.

Jay Allen Johnson was also fined $5,000, ordered to serve three years of supervised release after his prison sentence, and is barred by a protective order from contacting U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, their family and staff members for three years.

“Nothing excuses this conduct, threatening our elected officials, an act that attacks our very system of governance,” U.S. Attorney John E. Kuhn Jr. of the District of Alaska said in a statement. “The erosion of civility in our political discourse will never justify threats or acts of violence. Johnson's actions must be punished, and the Department of Justice will always work to ensure our elected officials can serve without fear of harm.”

Johnson, who said he was too old and ill to carry out his threats, partially blamed his behavior on a mixture of pain medications and alcohol along with the isolation during the pandemic prevalent during the five-month span of 2021 when he left 17 threatening voicemails.

Johnson, 65, of Delta Junction, pleaded guilty in January to two counts of threatening to kill a U.S. official in January. Sentencing was carried out at U.S. District Court in Fairbanks.

The government sought a sentence of 37 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release along with the protective order.

Johnson sought a 30-month term or supervised release.

“The defendant's conduct is simply unacceptable in a democracy” U.S. Assistant Attorney Ryan Tansey wrote in the government's sentencing memo filed before the sentencing hearing. “As political violence and domestic extremism grow, violent intimidation of public officials must result in serious criminal consequences.”