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Georgia man sentenced to prison for threatening to kill Pres. Biden, blow up the White House

A Barnesville man who threatened to kill President Joe Biden has been sentenced to prison, according to the Department of Justice.

Travis Ball, 56, was sentenced on Wednesday by Chief U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell.

The release states that Ball allegedly made several death threats against local judges and law enforcement officers.

“Sending death threats and purported anthrax is not protected speech — it is a crime,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “I applaud the investigative work by our federal and local law enforcement partners to secure justice in this case.”

Ball previously pleaded guilty to threats against Biden.

During the investigation, authorities learned that in March 2021, Ball sent a series of letters using an alias to multiple local and county government offices and officials, including judges with the Superior Court of Jones County, Georgia, and the Jones County Sheriff’s Office.

He reportedly sent a threat letter that contained a white powdery substance to the U.S. Courthouse in Macon. At that time, federal law enforcement agencies begin investigating to figure out where the letters were coming from and identified Ball as the suspect.

On March 23, 2021, detectives conducted a search warrant at Ball’s home and found Ball sleeping in the front living room on a cot. He allegedly spent most of his time on a laptop and writing letters. One of the items seized was a stack of white leaflet notebook paper that matched the threat letters found on the mantle above his cot, the release stated.

The top page had the impression of a letter. Investigators lightly shaded the page with a pencil and discovered that it contained an explicit threat against Biden, dated March 8, 2021, which stated, “HATE YOU JOE BIDEN AND AM GOING TO KILL YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND EVERYONE IN THE WHITEHOUSE! I’M A PSYCHO KILLER AND AM GOING TO BLOWUP THE WHITEHOUSE AND KILL EVERYONE IN IT! IM SERIOUS AND NOT KIDDING! LOCK ME UP OR ALL OF YOU WILL DIE! HAVE SOME ANTHRAX YOU BASTARDS!” The White House Mail Sorting Facility received the letter on March 30, 2021, and turned the letter over to the U.S. Secret Service.

In June 2017, Ball was convicted of felony hoax threats in the Northern District of Georgia after he reportedly sent letters to the State Bar of Georgia and to Atlanta newspapers in 2016 that contained a white powdery substance with threats to “kill all of you” and “have some anthrax.” Ball was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on June 23, 2017.

For his involvement in the 2022 case, Ball was sentenced to 33 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He’s ordered to pay a $7,500 fine.

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