Justin D. Whatcott Acting United States Attorney for the District of Idaho | Department of Justice
Nathanael Michael West, 28, has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for threatening a federal judge and a federal prosecutor. The sentencing took place on July 31, 2025. In addition to the prison term, West will serve three years of supervised release. The sentence is set to run consecutively with two prior sentences from 2020 and 2022 for similar offenses in the District of Idaho.
Court records show that in October 2022, West was convicted and sentenced for mailing threatening communications to three state prosecutors. While serving time in an Idaho state prison for burglary in February 2023, he sent a letter threatening Assistant United States Attorney David Robins, who had prosecuted his earlier cases. The letter included detailed threats of assault, kidnapping, torture, mutilation, and murder against Robins. Less than two weeks later, West sent another letter containing threats to Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye.
A federal grand jury in Idaho indicted West on August 14, 2024. He faced four counts: mailing threatening communications; threatening to assault, kidnap or murder a federal law enforcement officer with intent to retaliate; and threatening to assault or murder 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.”
Because of potential conflicts of interest within the local office where some victims worked previously or currently work as prosecutors or judges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho was recused from handling this matter. Instead, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas H. Edmonds from Oregon was appointed Special Attorney by the United States Attorney General for prosecution duties.
U.S. Attorney Bradford credited the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with conducting the investigation into these threats.
