On March 4, 2003, a 76-year-old man from Bedford, Texas, pleaded guilty in Dallas District Court to mailing a letter containing a threat to kidnap and injure the Lubbock County district attorney.

Bob Roy Jeanes, a member of the Republic of Texas, an extreme anti-government group associated with the sovereign citizen movement, was arrested in September 2003 for impersonating an officer, resisting arrest and carrying a gun onto private property at a restaurant in Lubbock. After his arrest, Jeanes sent a letter to district attorney William Sowder demanding that the charges brought against him be dropped or he would arrest Sowder, charge him with sedition against the Republic of Texas and hold him without bail.

The charge of sedition, according to Jeanes' letter, was punishable by death. "Make no mistake," Jeanes wrote. "I will perform my duties under the law."

At the time of his arrest, Jeanes had a badge and an identification card that read: "National Sheriff of the Republic of Texas." The Republic of Texas believes that Texas is an independent country occupied by the United States. In 1997, a faction of the group in West Texas initiated an armed confrontation with police when they kidnapped a local couple in response to the arrest of one of their members. One member was killed during the week-long standoff.

Jeanes could be sentenced to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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