Man charged with threatening federal judge

Because the judge's chambers were located in Reno, Nevada, the federal District of Nevada is recused from the case. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California is handling the case.

According to court documents, on February 3, 2016, while incarcerated in a Nevada state prison, 47-year-old David Jerry Paule filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. In January 2017, Paule and the other parties to the lawsuit agreed to a settlement and the case was dismissed.

According to the indictment, after the case was dismissed, between May and July 2017, Paule sent the U.S. District Judge who had presided over the lawsuit three letters in which he threatened to kill the judge.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Marshals Service.

If convicted, Paule faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.