Alaska man gets 32 months for threatening to kill senators

By MARK THIESSEN
Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A rural Alaska man who threatened to assassinate both of Alaska’s U.S. senators in a series of profane messages left at their congressional offices was sentenced Friday to 32 months in prison. Jay Allen Johnson was also fined $5,000, ordered to serve three years of supervised release after his prison sentence, and is barred by a protective order from contacting U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, their family and staff members for three years. Johnson claimed he was too old and ill to carry out his threats. He partially blamed his behavior on the mixture of pain medications and alcohol during the five-month span of 2021 when he left 17 threatening voicemails.