The letter to the federal judge, purportedly written by a U.S. Secret Service agent who previously investigated Travis Leroy Ball, demanded that Ball’s case be dismissed and the defendant be released from prison. But the letter, which was handwritten, was also clearly stamped with the designation “INMATE MAIL.”
Ball, 56, of Barnesville, has spent the bulk of the past seven years in federal prison for threatening violence against government officials and others, often through mailed letters. On Friday, he once again pleaded guilty to making similar threats and faces up to five more years behind bars, according to Melissa Hodges, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.
Ball wrote a slew of misleading and threatening letters from his federal prison cell throughout 2023, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In March, he wrote the aforementioned letter posing as a Secret Service agent and demanding his release. The same month, and again in May, he sent letters to the U.S. District Court in Valdosta and the U.S. Department of Housing and Development in Washington, D.C., under the name of a former cellmate. Both letters threatened to kill employees of the government offices and their families, as well as burn down their properties.
In July, Ball sent a letter posing as an FBI agent to the Upson County Sheriff’s Office, Hodges said. The letter claimed the agent was working on a “top-secret case” and demanded the sheriff’s office delete Ball’s photos and personal information. Each letter Ball sent was clearly stamped as inmate mail.
FBI agents also found writing materials and stamps matching those of the letters in question inside Ball’s prison cell, Hodges said. A test confirmed that Ball’s DNA was found on at least two of the letters.
Ball was last arrested on similar charges for letters he sent in March 2021. He sent a letter to the White House threatening President Joe Biden and his family and threatening to blow up the building. He also sent a letter to the federal courthouse in Macon that contained a white powder, sparking an anthrax scare in the building.
“While Mr. Ball’s continued criminal conduct clearly illustrates his lack of concern and compassion for others, it also illustrates his unwillingness to be rehabilitated,” said Robert Gibbs, spokesman for the FBI Atlanta’s Macon office. “Hopefully, this additional sentence will finally send the message that the FBI will not tolerate his hate-fueled hoaxes and will continue to hold him accountable.”
The most recent charges were filed against Ball in October while he was serving a 33-month federal prison sentence. According to Federal Bureau of Prisons records, he was scheduled to be released this month. Officials did not say if he was ever released from federal custody, but federal convicts are typically held on remand until sentencing.
A date has not been set for Ball’s sentencing hearing. It could include up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. There is no parole in the federal prison system.
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