TL;DR: A 56-year-old Marine veteran from Casa Grande, Arizona, has been sentenced to 38 months in federal prison after a jury convicted him of threatening to kill Donald Trump and Kamala Harris around the 2024 election.
A Marine veteran from Casa Grande, Arizona, has been sentenced to 38 months in prison for threatening to kill President Donald Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris, including a written threat to execute whichever of them won the 2024 election, the Associated Press reported on Oct. 26, 2026.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona said a federal jury convicted Rene Ortiz, 56, of two felony counts of making threats against successors to the presidency and one felony count of making threats against a former president.
On Election Day 2024, Ortiz delivered a written threat to the federal courthouse in Phoenix to execute the newly elected president, directed at both candidates. Weeks later, he delivered a second threat to the federal courthouse in Tucson to shoot the incoming president at the inauguration, according to the AP account.
The threats and the arrest
When interviewed by the Secret Service, Ortiz admitted making the threats, according to KTAR, the Phoenix radio station cited by the AP. He was arrested three days before Trump’s inauguration. KTAR reported that Ortiz told agents he planned to shoot the president-elect if his demands were not met.
Ortiz said he had a grievance with the Department of Veterans Affairs, claiming the agency promised to pay for his schooling if he quit working there but failed to reimburse him after he enrolled. That grievance, as reported, appears to be the stated background to the threats, though it does not explain or excuse them in the eyes of the court.
A separate filing and the trial defence
Ortiz also appeared to reference the July 2024 assassination attempt on Trump in a separate filing seeking permission to target the candidate’s head, not his ear, KTAR reported. Prosecutors and the jury would have weighed that filing alongside the two courthouse threats in assessing whether the threats were serious and specific.
At a four-day trial, Ortiz’s public defender argued the threats were the actions of a mentally ill man who had no intention of carrying them out and posed no real danger. A licensed psychologist testified that Ortiz had schizoaffective disorder and borderline personality disorder, according to KTAR.
Why threat cases are prosecuted federally
Threats against a president, a president-elect and other protected officials are federal offences, investigated by the Secret Service and prosecuted by U.S. Attorneys. The law does not require prosecutors to prove that a defendant had the means to carry out a threat, only that the threat was made in the manner charged.
That is why threat cases often turn on the defendant’s words, writings and admissions, and on expert evidence about intent and mental condition, rather than on whether a weapon was found. In Ortiz’s case, the jury convicted on all three felony counts after the four-day trial.
The sentence
Ortiz was sentenced to 38 months in prison, a little over three years. The sentence reflects the jury’s convictions on two counts of threatening successors to the presidency and one count of threatening a former president, and it closes a case that began with written threats delivered to two federal courthouses in Arizona.
Threat cases also serve as a warning to others: written threats delivered to a courthouse, even without an attempt to carry them out, can lead to a federal conviction and a multi-year prison term, as Ortiz’s sentence demonstrates.
Featured image: representative scene photo, not a photo of the people or the exact location in this case. Image source: courthouse photo
Sources: Associated Press via Newsmax.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was sentenced?
Rene Ortiz, 56, a Marine veteran from Casa Grande, Arizona, between Phoenix and Tucson.
What sentence did he receive?
Thirty-eight months in federal prison.
What was he convicted of?
Two felony counts of making threats against successors to the presidency and one felony count of making threats against a former president.
What threats did he make?
On Election Day 2024, a written threat delivered to the Phoenix federal courthouse to execute the newly elected president, directed at both candidates, and weeks later a threat delivered to the Tucson courthouse to shoot the incoming president at the inauguration.
When was he arrested?
Three days before Trump’s inauguration, after the Secret Service interviewed him and he admitted making the threats, according to KTAR.
What did his defence argue?
His public defender argued the threats were the actions of a mentally ill man with no intention of carrying them out. A psychologist testified Ortiz had schizoaffective disorder and borderline personality disorder.
