Las Vegas man pleads guilty to threatening President Obama

A Las Vegas man who may be linked to the federal investigation involving rancher Cliven Bundy pleaded guilty Wednesday to threatening the life of President Barack Obama and other government officials.

Tyrone Paul Ponthieux, 55, pleaded guilty to one felony count of making threats against the president in November 2014 and one count of threats against federal officials, including an FBI agent, in September.

Ponthieux, who is to be sentenced July 20, was ordered released from federal custody with conditions, including home detention and electronic monitoring.

Federal prosecutors and defense lawyers are keeping a lid on Ponthieux’s possible ties to the Bundy investigation, which stems from the April 2014 armed standoff with law enforcement near Bundy’s ranch in Bunkerville.

Ponthieux has agreed to cooperate and provide testimony about “other persons who are committing or have committed offenses against the United States,” according to his 20-page plea agreement. In return, prosecutors will seek a lighter sentence for him.

The Bundy investigation is not named in the plea agreement, but the same prosecutors in that case, including First Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre, appeared in court Wednesday for Ponthieux’s change of plea.

Agents with the Las Vegas FBI’s domestic terrorism squad, which investigated the Bunkerville showdown, are also involved in the Ponthieux case.

Agents learned that Ponthieux had made a death threat on his Facebook page in November 2014 against Obama and members of Congress, an FBI criminal complaint alleges. The Facebook page contains a photo of Ponthieux sitting on a black Hummer holding an AR-15 rifle.

“I think we all need to get our guns and shoot all these out of control congressmen and senators and Obama!” the threat said. “Any survivors, hang them, then try their dead bodies for high treason!”

The complaint alleges FBI agents discovered the threat “during the course of conducting open source Internet searches related to another investigation.”

While in federal custody, Ponthieux later threatened other officials, including an FBI agent assigned to investigate him, his plea agreement states.

His lawyer, William Gamage, declined comment Wednesday.

Bundy and four of his sons, all of whom are in federal custody, are among 19 defendants facing criminal charges tied to the Bunkerville confrontation.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find @JGermanRJ on Twitter.