In the case of People v. Isaac Jones, Jr., the defendant was convicted of multiple counts of criminal threats and attempted criminal threats against judges of the Orange County Superior Court. Isaac Jones Jr.’s actions are a vivid representation of how sovereign citizen beliefs can escalate into dangerous behavior, posing a real threat to public officials.
The case against Jones began in June 2018 when he mailed a suspicious package to the Central Justice Center in Orange County. The package, containing approximately 100 pages of sovereign citizen documents. The documents were printed on blue paper and they bore red thumbprints.
Jones’s first package did not overtly contain any threats, although its unusual presentation raised concerns among the sheriff’s department’s Judicial Protection Unit (JPU), which monitors potential threats to judges and court personnel.
Five months later, in November 2018, Jones escalated his actions. He personally delivered an envelope to courtroom C5 of the Central Justice Center, where Supervising Judge Kimberly Menninger presided. Again, the documents inside carried red fingerprints and were printed on blue paper. This time, the documents included a demand for the release of Jones’s nephew from custody, along with a monetary demand for $65 million. The writings in these documents were heavily laced with the rhetoric typical of sovereign citizens—warnings and demands framed as legal orders that no government authority would ever recognize.
These documents contained language that could be interpreted as a threat, although they did not explicitly state such.
By January 2019, Jones’s behavior culminated in a terrifying and potentially lethal act. A third package was delivered to the courthouse, this time containing a chemical agent that caused physical harm to the deputies who opened it. Deputy Scott Strong of the JPU experienced burning sensations in his throat and lungs, and the courthouse was evacuated as a bomb squad was called in to investigate further. This marked a severe escalation in Jones’s actions—from sending puzzling, ideologically charged documents to including a dangerous chemical substance.
What truly alarmed law enforcement, however, were the contents of the third package. This package contained about 500 documents. The documents listed the names of several Orange County judges, accusing them of “PRIVACY AND HIGH TREASON” and sentencing them to death by hanging. Jones had crafted a faux “Red Notice Alert”—a distorted reference to an Interpol Red Notice, which is used to alert law enforcement agencies worldwide about wanted individuals. In Jones’s version, the “offenders” were the judges, and their punishment was explicitly spelled out: execution.
Jones’s red notice alert consisted of a chart with five columns titled: “Offender List Most Wanted,” “Date of Convicted 11/21/2018,” “Capital Punishment” “Inmate IDt,” and “Courtroom Number.” Listed as the “offenders” were the partial names of several Orange County Superior Court judges. The red notice alert also stated each judge was convicted of “PRIVACY AND HIGH TREASON.” The listed punishment for each judge was “DEATH BY HANGING UNTEL DEAD[.]”
Each judge’s “Inmate IDt” was their assigned courtroom number and their “courtroom number” was the courtroom’s telephone number. Notably, the “date of convicted,” November 21, 2018, was the date Jones had hand delivered the second package (the envelope) that contained the “warning” message to “all judicial officers.”
Another document in the box stated, “REWARD FOR PRIVACY AND HIGH TREASON” and indicated the “DEFENDANTS” confessed in open court and were found guilty of “PRIVACY AND HIGH TREASON.” This page had several pennies glued to it as a reward.
Another document included in the box stated in part, “PUT THE TRAI[T]ER TO DEATH AT ONCE, CARY OUT YOUR ORDO! FORTHWITH! WRIT OF EXECUTION APPROVE.” That same document also stated, “DEATH WARRANT ISSUES, FIN VERDICT. YOU HAVING BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF TREASON AND HAVING EXHAUSTED ALL POSSIBLE APPEALS. FOR THE RECORD AND ON THE RECORD EXECUTION IS ORDO FORTHWITH. YOU NEXT IN LINE ONE AT A TIME. ORDO SOME MORE BODY BAGS FROM FD 685 UNDERTAKER HERE . . .” This document listed several other individuals and groups, though it did not explicitly mention the judges.
On another document in the box, Jones wrote in part, “YOUR TIME IS UP 2018 2019 2020 . . . . . YOU WILL NEVER SEE 21 AGAIN. IF YOU SEE YOUR NAME . . . . . . I WISH YOU HAD MORE TIME . . . . . . A LIFE FOR A LIFE . . . . . . I WILL TAKE YOU FLEAS, BONES, SOUL, SPIRIT, YOUR LIFE, ALL THIS IS . . . .”
The fact that Jones not only named specific judges but also listed their courtroom numbers and personal identifiers like phone numbers demonstrated a chilling level of focus and premeditation. His documents were filled with calls for violent retribution, including statements like “PUT THE TRAI[T]ER TO DEATH AT ONCE” and references to death warrants being issued. Jones’s intent to harm the judges was clear from these writings, which law enforcement interpreted as direct death threats.
By March 2019, Jones was arrested, his hands were literally still marked with red ink of the thumbprints he had used to sign the threatening packages. He was charged with and convicted of 13 counts of criminal threats and six counts of attempted criminal threats, all targeting public officials, specifically judges. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He recently appealed his convictions and the judgement was affirmed.
Isaac Jones, Jr.’s case serves as a stark reminder of the danger posed by the sovereign citizen movement, particularly when adherents become fixated on public officials and the judiciary. While not all sovereign citizens resort to violence, the ideology provides a foundation for individuals like Jones to justify their hostile actions.
In this case, Jones’s escalating behavior—from sending strange documents to mailing chemically tainted packages and issuing death threats—illustrates how quickly sovereign citizen rhetoric can turn dangerous. The courts and law enforcement must remain vigilant in identifying and addressing these threats, understanding that what may begin as seemingly incoherent legal jargon can escalate into a serious risk to public safety.