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Ohio man facing more than 20 years in prison for threatening Arizona election official

December 17, 2022 / 1:37 PM EST / CBS Pittsburgh

Ohio man facing federal charges for allegedly threatening election official

WASHINGTON (KDKA) - The U.S. Department of Justice has filed federal charges against an Ohio man for threatening an Arizona state election official.

The 44-year-old Joshua Russell allegedly left voicemails threatening to kill an official in the Arizona Secretary of State's office, leading up to the midterm elections.

Russell's arrest is the result of Attorney General Merrick Garland's Election Threats Task Force.

If convicted on all charges, Russell could face more than 20 years in prison.

The task force has brought at least six federal cases so far, with arrests in Colorado, Arizona, and Michigan for threats against election workers.

Patrick Damp

Patrick Damp is a web producer for CBS Pittsburgh. A Pittsburgh native who grew up watching KDKA-TV, Patrick studied journalism at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. After half a decade in sports communication, Patrick decided to pursue his dream of working in journalism in his hometown and joined the CBS Pittsburgh team in 2019.