A Meridian man was sentenced on July 29, 2026, to 36 months in prison for threatening to unlawfully damage and destroy a building on the Choctaw Indian Reservation, according to U.S. Attorney Baxter Kruger of the Southern District of Mississippi and Gabriel Billie, Director of Choctaw Public Safety for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Court documents state that Joshua Mark Davis, age 37, used a phone inside the Silver Star Hotel & Casino at the Pearl River Resort on the Choctaw Indian Reservation to make a bomb threat. In May 2022, a federal grand jury indicted Davis. He entered a plea of guilty to the charge on March 19, 2026.
Davis received a sentence of 36 months in federal prison and will be subject to three years of supervised release after his imprisonment. He was also fined $1,500.
U.S. Attorney Kruger commended the work of the Choctaw Police Department of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians for investigating this case. The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin J. Payne and Brian K. Burns, as well as Special Assistant United States Attorney Kalleigh McCoy.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes, handling civil lawsuits involving the government, collecting federal debts, and serving as chief federal law enforcement officer across its jurisdiction covering 45 counties in southern Mississippi under direction from the Attorney General; offices are located in Jackson, Gulfport and Hattiesburg, according to the official website.