2 Plead Guilty to Threatening Georgia Public Officials After 2020 Elections

A file image of voters standing in line to cast their ballots during the first day of early voting in the U.S. Senate runoff, in Atlanta, Ga., on Dec. 14, 2020. Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

Two people pleaded guilty in separate cases on Aug. 31 to making threatening statements directed at several Georgia public officials following the 2020 election, the Department of Justice announced.

Chad Christopher Stark, 55, of Leander, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of sending a threat using a telecommunications device.

A sentencing date has not yet been set but if found guilty, he faces a maximum of two years in prison, DOJ officials said.

Joshua Russell, 44, of Bucyrus, Ohio, also pleaded guilty to one count of making a threatening interstate communication.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in November and faces up to five years behind bars, the DOJ said in a separate press release.

According to prosecutors, on or around Jan. 5, 2021, the day before the breach of the U.S. Capitol, Mr. Stark posted a message to Craigslist calling for Georgia public officials to be killed.

“Georgia Patriots it’s time to kill [Official A] the Chinese agent - $10,000,” the message said, according to prosecutors. “It’s time to invoke our Second Amendment right it’s time to put a bullet in the treasonous Chinese [Official A]. Then we work our way down to [Official B] the local and federal corrupt judges,” it continued, prosecutors said.

In his message, Mr. Stark also stated: “It’s our duty as American Patriots to put an end to the lives of these traitors and take back our country by force. . . . If we want our country back we have to exterminate these people,” according to prosecutors. “One good loyal Patriot deer hunter in camo and a rifle can send a very clear message to these corrupt governors,” the message allegedly read.

People wait in line to vote in Georgia's Primary Election in Atlanta, Ga., on June 9, 2020. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

‘Time to Spill Blood’

Mr. Stark also allegedly wrote that it was “time to spill blood.”

“We need to pay a visit to [Official C] and her family as well and put a bullet her behind the ears,” he allegedly wrote in the message. “We will find you oathbreakers and we’re going to pay your family to visit your mom your dad your brothers and sisters your children your wife…  we’re going to make examples of traitors to our country…  death to you and all you communist friends,” the message stated, according to prosecutors.

Meanwhile, in August 2022, Mr. Russell allegedly left a voice message for an election official with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, identified by the DOJ only as Victim‑1.

In his voice message, Mr. Russell allegedly branded the victim a “traitor.”

“You’ve drug your feet, you’ve done nothing, to protect our election for 2020,” he said, according to prosecutors. “You’re committing election fraud, you’re starting to do it again, from day one. You’re the enemy of the United States, you’re a traitor to this country, and you better put your sh[inaudible], your [expletive] affairs in order, ’cause your days [inaudible] are extremely numbered. America’s coming for you, and you will pay with your life, you communist [expletive] traitor [expletive],” he said, according to prosecutors.

Former President Donald Trump boards his private airplane, also known as Trump Force One, as he departs Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport after being booked at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 24, 2023. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

‘Entire Nation Is Coming for You’

Mr. Russell left further voicemail messages for the election official in September and November of that same year, according to the DOJ.

In those messages, he allegedly branded the official a “terrorist” who would “suffer the consequences” and said “the entire nation is coming for you” and “will stop, at no end, until you are in the ground.”

“The Justice Department has no tolerance for illegal threats that target those who administer our elections, and it will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute such criminal conduct,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the DOJ’s Criminal Division in a press release. “These threats endanger election workers and their families, and they endanger our democracy,” Ms. Argentieri added.

Jazmin Alagha, a federal public defender representing Mr. Russell, told NBC News, “We respect this process and expect a fair result.”

The Epoch Times has contacted a legal representative for Mr. Stark.

Mr. Stark and Mr. Russell’s guilty pleas come as former President Donald Trump and 18 others were indicted in Fulton County, Georgia, in relation to their efforts to dispute the results of the 2020 election in the state.

President Trump, who is currently the leading candidate in the GOP 2024 presidential race, has denied any wrongdoing, as have his co-defendants.