Nevada inmate accused of threatening to kill federal judge in Reno
RENO — A federal grand jury has indicted a 47-year-old Nevada inmate accused of threatening to kill a U.S. district judge and her family in Reno.
The grand jury in Las Vegas handed up the indictment of David Paule of Indian Springs on Tuesday charging him with three counts of threatening a federal official.
If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison and a $750,000 fine.
The indictment says Paule first threatened to murder Judge Miranda Du in a letter he sent from the state prison in Lovelock in May 2017 demanding she reconsider her dismissal of a civil lawsuit he filed.
It says Paule vowed upon release from prison he would kill her with his bare hands. Later, he wrote he would have associates make her watch while they killed her family then her.
Court records don’t list a lawyer for Paule.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of California is handling the matter because the federal District of Nevada is recused from the case.
A previous version of this article misstated the location of the Las Vegas grand jury.
