Local woman admits to threatening federal judge

HOUSTON – A 50-year-old Houston resident has pleaded guilty to interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

On Sept. 1, 2022, Tiffani Shea Gish aka Evelyn Salt left three threatening voicemails on the chamber’s telephone of a U.S. district judge from Florida. In the messages, Gish claimed to be a member of several military combat units, trained and familiar with weapons of war.

In the first message, she said the victim was marked for assignation and would get a bullet in the head. Gish then reiterated the same threat in two subsequent messages and used expletives when adding that she had ordered snipers and a bomb to the victim’s house and would throw a bullet to the victim’s head.

“As prosecutors, our mission is to always protect the rule of law, and that necessarily means protecting the judges who interpret and apply the law,” said Hamdani. “Tiffani Gish’s threats to assassinate a federal judge have no place in a republic whose strength comes from the rule of law. As a result, my office and its public servants have no tolerance for those like Gish who threaten judges and in turn seek to undermine our system of government.”

U.S. District Judge David Hittner accepted the plea and set sentencing for Feb. 9, 2024. At that time, Gish faces up to five years imprisonment and a possible $250,000 maximum fine. She has been and will remain in custody pending that hearing.

The FBI and U.S. Marshals Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Schammel prosecuted the case.