MACON, Ga. (WRBL) — A Barnesville, Georgia, man previously convicted of felony hoax threats will now serve prison time for threatening to kill the president and blow up the white house, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for Middle District of Georgia.
Travis Ball, 56, was sentenced to 33 months in prison after he pled guilty to threats against the president.
Court documents show Ball used an alias to send multiple letters to various government offices and officials — some including Superior Court of Jones County, Georgia, and the Jones County Sheriff’s Office.
On March 23, 2021, the U.S. District Courthouse for the Middle District of Georgia received a letter with the same alias and return address. Inside the letter was a white powdery substance, which led to investigation from federal law enforcement agencies.
This investigation determined Ball to be the suspected author.
On March 23, 2021, a warrant was executed at Ball's residence.
Among other items, a stack of white leaflet notebook paper matching the threat letters was seized from Ball's residence.
Investigators saw an impression of a letter on the top page of the paper stack. Agents lightly shaded the page with a pencil to find a threat written against the U.S. president.
The letter in part reads as follows:
“HATE YOU JOE BIDEN AND AM GOING TO KILL YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND EVERYONE IN THE WHITEHOUSE! I’M A PSYCHO KILLER AND AM GOING TO BLOWUP THE WHITEHOUSE AND KILL EVERYONE IN IT! IM SERIOUS AND NOT KIDDING! LOCK ME UP OR ALL OF YOU WILL DIE! HAVE SOME ANTHRAX..."
The White House received the letter on March 30, 2021. It was turned over to U.S. Secret Service.
Agents also noted Ball resided in the living room of his home, sleeping on a cot and spending most of his time on a laptop or writing letters.
Prior to this, Ball was convicted of felony hoax threats in 2017 after officials say he sent threatening letters holding a white powdery substance to the State Bar of Georgia and Atlanta Newspapers. The threats in part read "kill all of you" and "have some anthrax." Ball was sentenced to two years in prison followed by three years supervised release for this previous incident.
U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary says this behavior is criminal.
“Sending death threats and purported anthrax is not protected speech — it is a crime,” said U.S. Attorney Leary. “I applaud the investigative work by our federal and local law enforcement partners to secure justice in this case.”
Upon release from Ball's current sentence, he will face three years of supervised release along with a $7,500 fine.
This case was investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service and the Jones County Sheriff’s Office.
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