North Carolina Man Pleads Guilty to Mailing Threatening Letter to a U.S. District Judge, Former U.S. Attorney, and Assistant U.S. Attorney in North Carolina

A North Carolina convicted felon pleaded guilty today to mailing a threatening communication and retaliating against a federal official in the Western District of North Carolina. 

Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong of the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office and U.S. Marshal Kelly M. Nesbit of the U.S. Marshals Service made the announcement.

George Victor Stokes, 41, mailed a letter threatening to kill a U.S. District Court Judge, the former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, and an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.  Specifically, according to the Indictment, Stokes threatened to “blow” the head off of a U.S. District Court Judge.  As a part of his guilty plea, Stokes admitted he sent the death threat as retaliation for the victims’ roles in the sentencing and prosecution of Stokes in a separate prior federal case.   

A sentencing date has not yet been set.

FBI Charlotte and the U.S. Marshals Service for the Western District of North Carolina investigated the case.  Trial Attorneys Matthew K. Hoff and Rachel E. Timm of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section are prosecuting the case