Justin Deshun Stiger, 33, of Memphis, was found guilty of issuing the threats, according to U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Braden H. Boucek. The case was handled by prosecutors from the Middle District after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee recused itself because two of its prosecutors were victims.
Boucek said threats against law enforcement officers and members of the federal judiciary strike at the heart of the justice system.
“Threats to law enforcement and the federal judiciary are not just attacks on those individuals. They are threats to the justice system itself,” Boucek said in a statement. “Federal courtrooms are no place for violent threats, and public servants who are dedicated to serving our communities need to be able to go to work without worrying about someone threatening to kill them.”
According to trial evidence, Stiger was awaiting sentencing in federal court in Memphis on April 16, 2025, for his role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy when he began threatening prosecutors. Witnesses testified that Stiger—who has a prior conviction for a violent crime and alleged ties to a criminal street gang—pointed at the prosecutors and said they were “going to die” because of the sentence recommendation they intended to make.
When U.S. District Judge Mark Norris ordered Stiger removed from the courtroom after the initial threats, Stiger also threatened the judge, telling him, “You’re gonna die too, judge.” When Norris asked whether the remark was a threat, Stiger replied, “It ain’t no threat. It’s a promise.”
Prosecutors said Stiger later told a Deputy U.S. Marshal investigating the incident that “whoever gonna play with my life is gonna die,” and in a recorded statement added, “I ain’t playing bro. Like they gonna die,” referring to the prosecutors and judge.
Stiger is scheduled to be sentenced June 18, 2026, in U.S. District Court in Memphis. He faces up to 10 years in prison on each of the three counts of conviction.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and prosecuted by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. McGuire and Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Hinkle of the Middle District of Tennessee.
