Kevin P. Davidson, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama
A man from Bessemer, Alabama, Michael Roman Black, has been sentenced to over 52 years in prison for plotting to murder a federal prosecutor, as announced by Acting United States Attorney Kevin Davidson for the Middle District of Alabama. The sentence includes 420 months for the murder plot and 212 months for prior drug and gun charges from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama. After serving his prison term, Black will face three years of supervised release, with no parole in the federal system.
In February 2023, while Black was incarcerated in Hoover, Alabama, he allegedly shared a plan with a fellow inmate to have the federal prosecutor assigned to his case shot and killed. Black reportedly aimed to enlist two associates outside of prison to carry out the attack while the prosecutor was driving home.
Authorities swiftly intervened upon discovering the threat, and Black was later found guilty of threatening to murder, soliciting the murder of a federal prosecutor, and making false statements to a federal agent by a federal jury in Birmingham on September 12, 2024.
“Michael Black’s plot to target a federal prosecutor was not only an attempt to evade accountability for his crimes, but it was also a brazen act of vengeance,” stated Acting United States Attorney Davidson. “Such conduct strikes at the heart of our judicial system and must be met with severe consequences."
DEA Special Agent in Charge Steven Hofer emphasized the seriousness of the crime: “The attempt to orchestrate violence against a federal prosecutor is a grave assault on public safety and the principles of justice we rely upon.”
FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge, Birmingham Field Office, Christopher DiMenna, added, “After a thorough investigation, Michael Black is being held accountable for plotting to assassinate a federal prosecutor. Today's sentence makes clear that those actions will not be tolerated.”
The collaborative efforts of several law enforcement agencies, including the DEA, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Hoover Police Department, and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, were crucial in the investigation and prosecution led by Criminal Division Chief John J. Geer, III, from the Middle District of Alabama.
