Houston Woman Sentenced for Threatening Messages to U.S. District Judge

A 50-year-old Houston resident has been sentenced for using interstate communications to threaten, kidnap, or injure, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Tiffani Shea Gish, also known as Evelyn Salt, pleaded guilty on November 9, 2023, to charges stemming from threatening voicemails left for a U.S. district judge from Florida.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner ordered Gish to serve 37 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. During the sentencing hearing, evidence was presented regarding Gish’s mental health problems and previous threatening messages left for various government agencies. Judge Hittner expressed concern for public safety and the protection of the judiciary in handing down the sentence.

The charges stem from incidents on September 1, 2022, when Gish 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 military combat units and threatened violence against the victim, including assassination and bomb threats.

Gish will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

“Upholding the rule of law is one of the main priorities of the Department of Justice, and that means protecting public servants from violence,” said Hamdani. “Holding Tiffani Gish accountable for her threats to assassinate a federal judge sends a strong message that we have no tolerance for those – who often hide behind a far-off keyboard or phone line – seeking to undermine our democratic institutions by threatening the safety of the people who help those same institutions thrive.” 

The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service.