JD Vance Jailed: Threat to Vice President Leads to 2-Year Sentence

MICHIGAN, KOMPAS.com – A man from Michigan, United States, was sentenced to two years in prison for making a series of death threats against Vice President JD Vance, President Donald Trump, and billionaire Elon Musk.

This case attracted public attention because the perpetrator had a name and initials that were almost identical to the vice president.

The perpetrator, James Donald Vance or JD Vance, is a 67 year old man from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Meanwhile US Vice President JD Vance’s full name is James David Vance and prefers to be called “JD” without a period, according to reports The New York TimesWednesday (18/11/2025).

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Similar names, different identities

According to a release from the District Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan, the perpetrator was born James Donald Bowman.

He was then known as JD Hamel, before changing his name to JD Vance in 2013, taking his grandmother’s surname.

Threats to the US Vice President

Local authorities arrested Vance in June after tracking the Bluesky account he used to post threats in March and April. In the post, he threatened to kill the president and vice president.

He also threatened billionaire Elon Musk — whom Trump previously appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — as well as Donald Trump Jr, after speculation emerged that the president’s eldest son might run for the 2028 election.

Use username “Diaperjdv” on social media, the perpetrator wrote, “If Trump, Vance, or Musk come to my city again, they will leave here wrapped in a body bag.”

In another post, he also wrote, “I will be shot by a Secret Service sniper or spend the rest of my life in prison. I only have about 10 years of life left, after all.”

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Not stopping there, Vance also threatened to kill Donald Trump’s eldest son before “getting Secret Service protection.”

Arrested by Secret Service, pleads guilty

Vance pleaded guilty in July to three charges, namely threatening to kill and injure the president and vice president, and sending threatening communications across state lines.

Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

However, in documents before the sentencing hearing, Vance’s attorney, Helen C Nieuwenhuis, requested that her client only be sentenced to probation.

He called his client a “first-time offender with serious physical and mental health problems.”