Man gets no jail time for threatening to put a family’s ‘heads on poles’

A 51-year-old man with ties to a right-wing American militia group pleaded guilty on Monday to felony harassment after threatening in graphic detail to kill a man and his family in June.

John M. Valle received credit for one day in jail he served last year for the offense and walked freely out of a Spokane County Superior Court room Monday.

Valle told the court he consumed lots of whiskey at a birthday party in June when he sent voice messages to a man he knew, threatening to kill him, his ex-wife and their son. The Spokesman-Review chose not to identify the victims for their safety.

“It was an unfortunate mistake,” Valle said.

Valle attended a rally in 2018 at Spokane’s Franklin Park protesting a gun control measure, according to Spokesman-Review reporting. He was identified in the story as a leader of American Patriots Three Percent, which helped organize the rally.

He said at the time the Three Percenters is not an anti-government group or a militia and does not support white nationalism or extremist views. It’s unclear whether Valle is still part of the group. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the group originally set its sights on government overreach and got its name from an erroneous claim that only 3% of Americans fought against the British during the Revolutionary War. Since President Donald Trump took office, the ADL said, members have shifted some of their outrage to other targets, like immigrants and progressives.

According to court documents detailing the threats, Valle said in the messages he knew where the family lives and where the child goes to school. Valle threatened to “gut” the man’s wife and child and put their “heads on poles” in an expletive-filled message.

Valle asked the man what he would do when he and others come to his home using night-vision goggles to “light up your house,” saying he and his family would be “smoked.”

“When you drive that work truck to work, or when you’re driving home, we’ll still get you …,” Valle said in one of the messages.

Valle also said he would go to the man’s house and “blast” him.

“I’m not afraid of you; none of the Three Percenters are afraid of you,” Valle said in one of the messages.

The victim called Spokane police and provided screenshots of the messages and voice messages to an officer.

Police arrested Valle at his job.

Valle told police he was at a friend’s birthday party and was drunk during his exchange with the victim. He said he didn’t remember saying many of the threats.

The victim told The Spokesman-Review that Valle’s friend, a member of Valle’s militia group, worked for the victim’s construction business about six years ago. The victim said Valle tried to recruit him for the group, but he declined. The victim said he eventually fired Valle’s friend from the job.

The victim said he and Valle have not shared “kind words” since, but last June’s messages, which happened over a couple hours that night, were “completely unprovoked.” The man said he had not talked to him in years at that point and had only met him a couple times years ago.

He said the threats went “way too far.”

The man wrote a victim impact statement for Superior Court Judge John Cooney to read to himself Monday.

Valle was charged with three counts of harassment, but he pleaded guilty to one count as part of a plea agreement.

Valle’s standard sentence range called for one to three months in jail, but Spokane County deputy prosecutor Geoffrey Kristianson asked for an exceptional sentence of crediting time served, which was well below the standard range.

The maximum punishment for the felony is five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Kristianson said the charge is difficult to prove to a jury, and most end in acquittals when they do go to trial.

“It’s just the reality of it,” he said.

Valle’s defense attorney, Alicia Wasisco, said her client has no criminal history as an adult, and Valle regrets the “very bad mistake” he made.

“This is not a typical reaction or behavior (from Valle), so I have full faith you won’t see him again,” Wasisco said. “This was a very dumb mistake that he did, and he’s very embarrassed about it.”

Cooney said he understands why the family is traumatized based on the content of the messages. He said he “second-guessed” the attorneys’ sentencing recommendation, but ultimately followed it.

Valle will not be placed on community custody. He must pay $700 in fines and cannot have a firearm.

The victim said Valle deserved jail time, but he wants to move on.

“I think that’s ridiculous, considering what was actually said,” he said of the sentencing.

This may not have been Valle’s first time threatening someone.

According to a 2019 Spokesman-Review story, Valle told James “Russell” Bolton, a Stevens County man accused of extorting members of his own right-wing militia group called the Stevens County Assembly, that Bolton needed to stop his “crap” and that Valle and others knew where Bolton and his son lived.

Valle, identified in the story as a precinct committee officer for the Stevens County Republican Party, told The Spokesman-Review at the time that he only threatened to take legal action against Bolton.