COEUR D’ALENE, ID – A 28-year-old man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for threatening to kill, assault, or kidnap a federal judge and a federal prosecutor, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon announced Tuesday.

On July 31, 2025, Nathanael Michael West received a 96-month sentence, to be served consecutively to prior convictions in 2020 and 2022 for similar offenses in the District of Idaho. He will also serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.

According to court records, West was already serving a state burglary sentence at an Idaho prison in February 2023 when he mailed a letter to Assistant U.S. Attorney David Robins, who had prosecuted two of West’s earlier cases. The letter included graphic threats to assault, kidnap, torture, mutilate, and murder the prosecutor. Less than two weeks later, West sent another threatening letter to Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye, who had sentenced him in October 2022. That correspondence described plans to assault and kill the judge.

In August 2024, a federal grand jury indicted West on four counts, including mailing threatening communications and making threats against a federal law enforcement officer and a federal judge with intent to retaliate. He pleaded guilty to all charges in July 2025.

U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford called the sentence “appropriate and justified,” noting that West’s actions were “an assault on the integrity of the criminal justice system” and had a deeply personal impact on the victims.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas H. Edmonds of the District of Oregon, acting as Special Attorney to the U.S. Attorney General after the District of Idaho was recused. The FBI conducted the investigation.