An Alaska man plans to plead guilty to threatening to assault and murder several US Supreme Court justices, court filings show.
Panos Anastasiou, 77, agreed to plead guilty to a felony threats charge for sending more than 500 messages, some of which threatened harm against six justices, between 2023 and 2024, according to a filing submitted April 10 in the US District Court for the District of Alaska.
Anastasiou will also plead guilty to unlawfully possessing a firearm as a felon due to a prior 1991 conviction, according to the filing.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, federal prosecutors will recommend a probationary sentence and a period of home confinement due to Anastasiou’s advanced age and significant health issues, including dementia and a history of throat cancer.
The guilty plea comes just months after a would-be assassin arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home with weapons was sentenced to roughly eight years in prison, and as threats against members of the judiciary continue to spike.
Judge Aaron Christian Peterson of the Alaska district court plans to hold proceedings Thursday on Anastasiou’s plea.
Federal prosecutors said in a 2024 indictment that Anastasiou sent hundreds of messages directed at Supreme Court justices and two of their family members. The communications included violent, racist, and homophobic rhetoric, as well as “threats of assassination, torture, hanging,” and references to firearm use, prosecutors said.
In a draft copy of the plea agreement filed with the court, prosecutors included a July 2024 message from Anastasiou that called for the assassinations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, as well as President Donald Trump.
“Their assassination is ESSENTIAL for the country and democracy,” Anastasiou allegedly wrote in an email.
Threats against members of the judiciary have risen sharply in recent years, according to court officials. Roberts has repeatedly warned about escalating hostility toward judges. Speaking at Rice University in March, Roberts said personal attacks directed at judges are “dangerous” and must stop.
The US Marshals Service investigated more than 560 threats involving nearly 400 individual judges in fiscal year 2025, according to agency data. The service has already opened more than 300 threat investigations in fiscal year 2026, which began in October.
The case is USA v. Anastasiou, D. Alaska, 3:24-cr-00099, 4/10/26.
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