Michael Buck, a convicted felon from Glenallen, Missouri, was sentenced on April 2 to 300 months in federal prison for making threats against a federal judge, a federal law enforcement officer, and their families. The sentence was announced by Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Chief United States District Judge Kristine G. Baker handed down the sentence.
The case highlights concerns about the safety of public officials and their families when they are targeted for performing their duties. Authorities said Buck’s actions were particularly serious because he attempted to locate his intended victims as his release from prison approached.
Buck, age 53, pleaded guilty on April 29, 2025 to five counts in a Second Superseding Indictment that included threatening a federal judge and law enforcement officer as well as making false statements to investigators. He also received three years of supervised release after serving his sentence; there is no parole in the federal system.
In March 2025 while incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Forrest City, Arkansas, Buck was recorded making violent threats against the judge who had sentenced him in a previous commercial sex trafficking case from 2008 in Missouri. He also threatened family members of both that judge and the former prosecutor involved in his earlier conviction. Investigators found that Buck used an illegal prison phone to attempt contact with one victim.
Buck has an extensive criminal record including convictions for burglary, assault, domestic violence, resisting arrest and violating orders of protection. As his scheduled release date neared after nearly seventeen years behind bars for trafficking offenses involving involuntary servitude and coerced commercial sex trafficking, he continued making threats toward officials connected with his original case.
“Threats to kill public officials and their families for simply doing their jobs will not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Ross. “Here…quick action was taken to prevent [Buck’s] release…We are thankful that the court recognized that Buck is a sadistic and dangerous individual that needs to be removed from society for an additional 25 years.” The investigation involved cooperation between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Marshals Service and Bureau of Prisons.
