MACON, GA. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Criminal - Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section), published as received.
MACON, Ga. – A former Georgia poll worker was sentenced to prison after admitting to mailing a letter that contained threats to bomb a Jones County precinct and harm poll workers, and for lying to the FBI during the investigation.
Nicholas Wimbish, 26, of Milledgeville, was sentenced to serve 20 months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine by U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell on Sept. 18. Wimbish previously pleaded guilty to one count of conveying false information and making hoaxes on Feb. 14. There is no parole in the federal system.
“Ensuring the security of our polling places is essential. Americans must be able to express their political choices at the ballot box without fear of violence or harm,” stated U.S. Attorney William R. “Will” Keyes. “These threats undermine the core values of our nation, and we will vigorously pursue justice in such matters.”
“The FBI takes all threat-to-life matters very seriously,” said FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown. “This case demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to hold accountable anyone who tries to intimidate a public official or interfere with the election process.”
According to court documents and statements referenced in court, Wimbish was employed as a poll worker at the Jones County Elections Office in Gray, Georgia, on Oct. 16, 2024, when he had a verbal altercation with a voter. Later that evening and into the early hours of Oct. 17, 2024, Wimbish conducted relevant online research and then drafted a letter posing as the voter threatening to bomb the polling place. Wimbish mailed the threatening letter to the Jones County Elections Superintendent from a “Jones County Voter” on Oct. 17, 2024. It arrived at the election office on Oct. 22, 2024.
Wimbish admitted he intended the letter to appear as if it came from the voter and added details to make it seem like the voter was targeting Wimbish and other poll workers. For example, it said, "Yesterday I had your young liberal woke idiot Nicholas Wimbish give me hell," that "he tries to influence peoples votes in line," and that "I researched a newspaper article about Nicholas Wimbish and other woke liberal fraudsters impostering to be patriots." The letter threatened that Wimbish and others "should look over their shoulder," that "I know where they all go," that "I know where they all live because I found home voting addresses for all them," that "the liberal young men will get beatdown if they fight me," that "they will get the treason punishment by firing squad if they fight back," and that "they should watch every move they make looking over their shoulder." Further, the letter threatened to "rage rape" the "ladies" and warned them to "watch every move they make and look over their shoulder." Below the typewritten letter, Wimbish wrote a note by hand, "PS boom toy in early vote place, cigar burning, be safe." Wimbish admitted he knew that a "boom toy" was a term for an explosive device. Wimbish also acknowledged that he lied to FBI agents investigating the mailed threat and falsely stated that he believed the Jones County voter sent the letter and that he had not conducted online research on himself. The letter was found on Wimbish's computer.
The FBI Atlanta Field Office investigated the case.
U.S. Attorney Keyes prosecuted the case for the Government with assistance from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section (PIN) and DOJ’s Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS).
