Nathanael Michael West, 28, has been sentenced to 96 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for threatening a federal judge and a federal prosecutor. The sentencing took place on July 31, 2025. The sentence will be served consecutively to two previous sentences from 2020 and 2022 related to similar offenses in the District of Idaho.
Court records indicate that in October 2022, West was sentenced for mailing threatening communications to three state prosecutors. While serving time for burglary at an Idaho state prison in February 2023, he sent a letter containing explicit threats against Assistant United States Attorney David Robins, who had prosecuted his earlier cases. Within two weeks, West sent another threatening letter to Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye, who had sentenced him in October 2022.
A federal grand jury indicted West on August 14, 2024, with four counts including mailing threatening communications and making threats against a federal law enforcement officer and a United States Judge with intent to retaliate. On July 31, 2025, West pleaded guilty to all charges.
“The 96-month sentence in this case is appropriate and justified, reflecting the seriousness, brazen, and violent nature of the defendant’s persistent threats,” said Scott E. Bradford, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. “The defendant’s deliberate actions were not only incredibly personal to the victims in this case, but they were also an assault on the integrity of the criminal justice system.”
Due to recusal by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas H. Edmonds from Oregon was appointed as Special Attorney to prosecute the case under direction from senior Department of Justice officials or U.S. Attorney Bradford.
U.S. Attorney Bradford acknowledged the FBI’s role in investigating the case.
