MACON, Ga. — A man was sentenced to federal prison on Wednesday for mailing threatening letters according to the U.S. Attorney press release.
56-year-old Travis Ball from Barnesville was sentenced to five years in prison for writing threatening letters to several government officials. He previously pleaded guilty on Jan. 19.
“We will not tolerate threats of violence against public servants and other similar criminal intimidations that disturb peace and order,” U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said. “Travis Ball has threatened government workers at every level and even their families. Keeping people safe is the highest priority of our office and our law enforcement partners.”
Ball was previously sentenced to 33 months in prison in 2022 for admitting to a separate charge of mailing threatening communications. In that case, he sent a letter to President Joe Biden in 2021 threatening to blow up the White House.
In the letter, Bell said:
“HATE YOU JOE BIDEN AND AM GOING TO KILL YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND EVERYONE IN THE WHITEHOUSE! I’M A PSYCHO KILLER AND AM GOING TO BLOWUP THE WHITEHOUSE AND KILL EVERYONE IN IT! IM SERIOUS AND NOT KIDDING! LOCK ME UP OR ALL OF YOU WILL DIE! HAVE SOME ANTHRAX YOU BASTARDS!”
Ball was also accused of mailing letters to the Jones County Sheriff’s Office and court clerk threatening to bomb buildings in 2021. He was also convicted of sending anthrax threats in 2017.
In his most recent charge, Ball wrote a letter, obtained by the FBI on March 10, 2023, where he was posed as a U.S. Secret Service agent who investigated one of his prior cases.
The writer, determined to be Ball, demanded the charge in his most recent federal case be dismissed and be released from federal prison.
In July, Ball wrote a letter to the Upson County Sheriff’s Office pretending to be an FBI agent working on a “top-secret case.” The writer, who was also determined to be Ball, demanded his photos and personal information be removed and deleted from jail records.
In both March and May of the same year, the court determined he — using the name of a former cellmate — wrote letters to the U.S. District Court in Valdosta and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington D.C., respectively.
He threatened to kill employees and their families and burn down property. Officers connected the two by finding his DNA on both letters.
“While Mr. Ball’s continued criminal conduct clearly illustrates his lack of concern and compassion for others, it also illustrates his unwillingness to be rehabilitated,” Supervisory Senior Resident Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta’s Macon office Robert Gibbs said. “Hopefully, this additional sentence will finally send the message that the FBI will not tolerate his hate-fueled hoaxes and will continue to hold him accountable.”
The FBI confirmed Ball was behind each letter by comparing the letters, handwriting, letterhead, postage stamps, verbiage and the “INMATE MAIL” stamp on each letter as Ball wrote these letters from prison. Officers found writing material and stamps in Ball’s cell.
Ball will have three years of supervised release following his five-year sentence.
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