Texas Man Sentenced to 3 1/2 Years in Prison for Threatening Maricopa County Election Officials

A Texas man has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in federal prison for making threats against election officials in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Frederick Francis Goltz, 52, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix. Goltz had posted the name, address, phone number, and fax machine of a Maricopa County official on two websites, patriots.win and the social media platform media Gab, according to court records. He also threatened the official and their children, writing “It would be a shame if someone got to this children,” with a typo.

The threats made by Goltz were part of a larger trend of threats against election officials across the country after former President Donald Trump falsely claimed that the 2020 election was stolen from him. These threats contributed to an exodus of election officials and made recruiting poll workers difficult.

Goltz was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison and three years of supervised release. U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Gregg Sofer said in a statement that “threatening violence against election officials, or anyone else, is a serious crime and will be prosecuted.” He added that “the Department of Justice will protect the right of every American to vote and to have their vote counted without fear of violence or intimidation.”