Michigan man JD Vance sentenced to 2 years for threatening Trump and JD Vance

A Michigan man with the same initials as Vice President JD Vance has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for posting online threats to kill President Trump, the Vice President, and a member of the President’s family, according to federal prosecutors.

67-year-old James Donald Vance Jr. of Grand Rapids was sentenced on Monday to serve a two-year term in custody, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan.

Prosecutors said Vance, using the alias “Diaperjdv,” posted a series of threatening messages on the social media platform Bluesky in March and April 2025.

In the posts, he made specific threats to kill President Donald J. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and one of the President’s children.

In one message, Vance wrote that he did not care if he was shot by the Secret Service or spent the rest of his life in prison.

Vance pleaded guilty to two felony counts: threatening to kill or injure the President and Vice President, and interstate threatening communications. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

This is the second sentencing in the Western District of Michigan in one month involving threats against Trump. On October 20, Richard James Spring of Comstock Park was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $2,000 after pleading guilty to threatening to kill President Trump.

“When Vance said he planned to kill our President and the Vice President simply because he disagreed with them, he crossed a line we all understand and so had to be punished,” United States Attorney Timothy VerHey said.