NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FEDERAL LAWYERS
Can you go to jail for threatening President
|Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group – a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek. We’ve got over 40 years of combined experience, and we’ve handled cases others said were unwinnable. You might know us from the Anna Delvey Netflix series, the Ghislaine Maxwell juror misconduct case, or the Alec Baldwin stalking matter. If you’re reading this, you probably said something online or in person about the President – and now you’re worried about federal agents showing up at your door.
This article explains whether you can go to jail for threatening the President, what the law actually says, how the Secret Service investigates these cases, and what sentences people are getting in 2025.
Yes, You Can Go to Prison for Five Years
Under 18 USC 871, threatening the President is a federal felony. The statute makes it illegal to “knowingly and willfully” make any threat to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm on the President of the United States. It also covers the Vice President, President-elect, and former Presidents.
The maximum sentence is five years in federal prison. You’re also looking at a fine up to $250,000, a mandatory $100 special assessment, and three years of supervised release after you get out. If you made the threat online, judges have imposed internet restrictions – meaning no email, no social media, nothing.
This isn’t a statute that sits on the books collecting dust. Federal prosecutors charge people under 18 USC 871 regularly, the Secret Service investigates these cases aggressively, and people go to prison. In 2025 alone, we’ve seen multiple arrests and indictments for threatening President Trump on social media platforms.
What Actually Counts as a Threat
Not everything is a threat. The First Amendment protects political speech – even harsh, angry, vulgar political speech. The question is whether your statement crosses the line from protected expression into a “true threat.”
In 2023, the Supreme Court decided Counterman v. Colorado, which clarified the standard prosecutors must meet. The government has to prove you had a “subjective understanding” that the person receiving your words would perceive them as threatening. Recklessness is enough – meaning you “consciously disregarded a substantial risk” that your statement would be taken as a threat.
Context matters. The landmark case is Watts v. United States from 1969. An 18-year-old anti-war protester told a crowd: “If they ever make me carry a rifle, the first man I want to get in my sights is L.B.J.” The Supreme Court ruled this was “political hyperbole,” not a true threat. The statement was conditional (“if they ever make me”), made at a political rally, and the crowd laughed.
Courts look at several factors – was the threat conditional or unconditional? What was the context? How did listeners react? Was there any indication you had the ability or intent to carry it out?
But don’t assume you’re safe because you added “if” to your sentence or posted it as a joke. Federal prosecutors argue that context differently than defense attorneys do. Posting “I won’t miss” with a photo of the President surrounded by Secret Service agents after an assassination attempt – that’s not political hyperbole, that’s a federal charge.
The Secret Service Will Find You
The Secret Service doesn’t wait around to see if threats are serious. They investigate every single one. They monitor social media, they receive tips from other users, they track down IP addresses, and they show up at your house with FBI agents.
Recent cases from 2025 show how this works in practice. Robert Herrera in San Antonio was arrested after posting “I won’t miss” on Facebook. Tyler Leveque in Albuquerque made multiple threatening posts in early January 2025, was interviewed by Secret Service and FBI on January 6th, admitted to the threats, and admitted he’d recently bought a firearm. He was indicted and faces five years.
A Pennsylvania man named Shawn Monper was charged in April 2025 for making threats on YouTube between January and April. The criminal complaint documented multiple statements threatening President Trump, other officials, and ICE agents. A Georgia man joined a TikTok livestream in July 2025 and made threats – arrested shortly after.
Think the Secret Service won’t find you because you used a fake name or a VPN? They will. They have resources, they have federal subpoena power, they coordinate with FBI, and this is what they do.
What Sentences People Actually Get
The maximum is five years, but what do people actually serve? It depends on the circumstances, your criminal history, whether you made multiple threats, and whether there were other charges involved.
Sentences typically fall between 27 and 46 months. Stephen Taubert got 46 months in 2019 for threatening former President Obama and Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Johnny Logan Spencer got 33 months for posting a poem about assassinating the President. Brian Dean Miller got 27 months for Craigslist threats. A Nevada man got 46 months in May 2025 for threatening U.S. Senators.
If you have no criminal history and made a single reckless statement – you might get less time. If you made repeated threats, purchased a weapon, or threatened multiple officials – you’re looking at the higher end or the full five years.
How We Defend These Cases
At Spodek Law Group, we’ve handled cases where federal prosecutors overreach – where they charge someone for protected political speech. Our criminal defense attorneys understand the First Amendment, we understand the Counterman standard, and we understand how to argue context.
The defense is proving you didn’t have the subjective intent to threaten. Maybe you were venting frustration, maybe it was dark humor that landed wrong, maybe the statement was so vague no reasonable person would take it as a genuine threat.
We look at everything – what you said, where you said it, who your audience was, what you told investigators. If Secret Service questioned you without Miranda warnings and you made incriminating statements, we file motions to suppress.
Sometimes the best outcome is a plea agreement that avoids the maximum sentence, gets you into a lower guideline range, and preserves your ability to argue for a variance at sentencing. Other times we go to trial because the government can’t prove you acted knowingly and willfully, or can’t prove the statement was a true threat under Counterman.
This is why you don’t talk to federal agents without a lawyer. The moment Secret Service contacts you, you call us. Anything you say will be used to prove you understood your statement was threatening, that you intended it seriously, that you weren’t joking. Agents are skilled at getting you to explain away your defenses before you even realize you need a defense.
What You Should Do Right Now
If federal agents have contacted you – or you’re worried they will – don’t post anything else online. Don’t delete anything, that’s destruction of evidence. Don’t talk to investigators without an attorney.
Call Spodek Law Group. We’re available 24/7, we represent clients coast-to-coast, and we’ve been handling federal criminal defense cases for decades. We have former federal prosecutors on our team who understand how the government builds these cases.
The worst thing you can do is try to explain yourself to investigators. Your explanation will be used against you at trial.