A 39-year-old Los Angeles man is facing a felony charge after authorities say he left a voicemail message threatening to kill a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. Kristofas Butsky was arrested and booked on suspicion of threatening an elected official, and the case is now headed to prosecutors for review.
According to the NBC Los Angeles report on the arrest, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Butsky left a voicemail attempting to intimidate an unidentified judicial officer. The outlet's reporting, credited to Helen Jeong and Dennis Broad, indicates authorities have not disclosed when Butsky allegedly made the threat or how he came into contact with the judge. The sheriff's department said the case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office for prosecution.
Butsky was arrested on suspicion of threatening an elected official, a felony, per the same account. Investigators have not released the specific court case or communication that led to the alleged voicemail, leaving key details of the incident unresolved for now.
A Pattern of Death Threats in Court Records
This is not the first time Butsky's name has surfaced in connection with threats of violence. In November 2024, California's Second District Court of Appeal affirmed a five-year elder abuse restraining order against a Kristofas Butsky in Los Angeles County Superior Court, according to case records reviewed by CaseMine. That case stemmed from testimony that he repeatedly threatened to kill and behead a relative at their home, and appellate records show he acknowledged under oath that he wanted to kill and behead a family member. Separately, FINRA and SEC regulatory disclosure records show a Kristofas Povilas Butkys held broker registrations and reported self-employment based in Los Angeles from 2016 through 2020.
What California Law Says About Threatening a Judge
Under California Penal Code Section 76, knowingly and willingly threatening death or serious bodily harm to a judge is what's known as a wobbler offense, meaning prosecutors can pursue it as either a misdemeanor or a felony, according to the Shouse Law Group. A first-offense felony conviction can carry up to three years in county jail and $5,000 in fines. To secure a conviction, prosecutors must prove the suspect intended the statement to be taken as a threat and had the apparent ability to carry it out.
Second Judicial Threat Case in LA This Year
Butsky's arrest marks the second high-profile case in 2026 involving threats against a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. In January, LA County Sheriff's deputies arrested 48-year-old Miles Basurto on felony charges of threatening a state official, criminal threats, and stalking after he allegedly threatened a Superior Court judge, as Hoodline previously reported. That case, like Butsky's, was investigated by the department's Security Operations Unit, a specialized team tasked with evaluating judicial threats, conducting threat assessments, and coordinating protective measures whenever a credible threat against a judge is reported.
Threats Against Judges Are Rising Nationwide
The Butsky arrest lands amid a documented surge in threats against judicial officers across the country. Nationwide threats targeting federal judges reached 564 in fiscal year 2025, up from 509 the year before, and the U.S. Marshals Service recorded 241 threats against judicial officers in early 2026 alone, according to the TaxProf Blog. The Marshals Service has reported that communications and threats directed at judges have tripled over the past decade.
Los Angeles courthouses have felt that trend directly. In November 2025, federal prosecutors requested an anonymous jury in a criminal trial after recording multiple threatening voicemails aimed at a Central District of California magistrate judge and prosecutor, with the voicemails including explicit threats to burn down the court or shoot public officials if defendants received life sentences. And in March 2024, federal authorities indicted 32-year-old Byrom Zuniga Sanchez after he sent threatening emails and social media posts promising to kill an Orange County family law judge and storm a courthouse, a case that carried a potential 10-year federal prison sentence.
Lawmakers and Legal Experts Sound the Alarm
California lawmakers have taken notice of the trend. In March 2025, state legislators advanced Assembly Bill 352, which would let courts treat threats of death or great bodily harm against judges as aggravating factors during criminal sentencing, according to the Daily Journal. During a July 2025 American Bar Association panel on judicial security, jurists warned that personal threats, home harassment, and dark-web doxxing against judges undermine judicial independence and force judges to fear for their families. Panelists at that event noted that threats investigated by federal marshals rose sharply from 179 in 2019 to hundreds annually.
For now, the specific circumstances behind Butsky's alleged voicemail remain unclear, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has not said when the threat was made or how Butsky came into contact with the judge. The case will move to the District Attorney's Office, which will determine what charges, if any, to formally file.
