Federal Charge Filed After Threatening Messages Sent to Missouri Judge
The case illustrates how federal interstate threat statutes apply when social media communications cross state lines to reach judicial officers.
Federal prosecutors have charged a California man with interstate transmission of a threatening communication after he allegedly sent a series of death threats to a Missouri judge via social media, according to public court records. The defendant, identified as Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce, is accused of sending the messages from a social media account identified in charging documents as 'yaeyae962' to Judge Ashlee Cole of Jackson County, Missouri, as reported by the New York Post on July 31, 2026.
The charge — interstate transmission of a threatening communication — is prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), a federal statute that criminalizes the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of any communication containing a threat to injure another person. A conviction under that statute carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, per the statutory text.
Court filings indicate the threats were connected to the death of teenager Nolan Wells. Judge Cole is identified in the charging documents as the stepmother of one of Wells' friends, establishing the alleged basis for contact. The specific content of the messages, as described by the New York Post, included language referencing substantial bodily harm, including a phrase referencing blood. The Congressional Times has not independently reviewed the underlying criminal complaint.
Threats against judicial officers have drawn increased federal attention in recent years. The U.S. Marshals Service, which is responsible for protecting federal judges, reported a rise in threats against judicial personnel in its annual statistical summaries, though Judge Cole is a state-level jurist, not a federal officer. Jurisdiction in this case appears to rest on the interstate nature of the electronic transmission rather than the status of the recipient.
Several material facts remain unknown at this time, including whether Dumarce has entered a plea, the identity of the presiding federal district court judge, and whether additional charges have been filed or are being considered. The full text of the criminal complaint, which would contain the specific allegations and evidentiary basis, would be available through the federal court's Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system once docketed.