PHOENIX (CN) — An Alabama man pleaded guilty Thursday to sending threatening messages to Arizona election workers during and after the 2022 primaries.
Brian Ogstad sent 18 Instagram direct messages to an account run by the Maricopa County Election Department in August 2022, the majority of which contained threats on election workers’ lives.
Arizona’s 2022 elections, for which primaries were held on Aug. 2, 2022, were a hotbed for unproven claims of election fraud leading to numerous threats lodged against elected officials and everyday citizens.
Ogstad was indicted and arrested in February 2024, and at his subsequent arraignment he pleaded not guilty to five felony counts of interstate threats. He decided to change his plea on July 2, pleading guilty to one of the five counts Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Boyle.
“This guilty plea should send a message to anyone who tries to take the rule of law into their own hands through vigilante justice,” U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino said in an email to Courthouse News. “But it also showcases the resilience of public servants. Thanks to the election professionals in Maricopa County who have worked courageously to maintain free and fair elections in spite of the threats received.”
Detailed in the indictment, count three pertains to the following message sent on Aug. 3, 2022, one day after the primary:
“You are lying, cheating mother fuckers… You better not come in my church, my business or send your kids to my school. You are fucking stupid if you think your lives are safe.”
Ogstad pleaded guilty to a class D felony, carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison and up to $20,000 in restitution to the victims, none of whom appeared in court Thursday afternoon. The four remaining counts will be dropped at sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 1, according to the plea agreement.
“In a heightened political climate, people often make online remarks they later regret,” defense attorney Todd Spodek of Spodek Law Group said on Ogstad’s behalf in an email to Courthouse News. “Unfortunately, Mr. Ogstad let his emotions get the best of him and sent a number of messages that he regrets.”
Ogstad declined to comment outside the federal courtroom in Phoenix.
Other messages Ogstad sent to election workers include “They have every vote! You fuckers think you can cheat? Ha! Stupid fuckers, do it! Hang yourself!” sent on Aug. 2, 2022, “You did it! Now you are fucked. Dead. You will all be executed for your crimes.” sent on Aug. 3, 2022, and “You people are so ducking stupid. Everyone knows you are lots, cheats, frauds and in doing so in relation to elections have committed treason. You will all be executed. Bang fuckers!” sent on Aug. 4, 2022
Ogstad, who appeared jittery throughout the 30-minute hearing, crossed his arms and nervously nodded his head to the beat of each word as Boyle read the messages aloud.
“Are these facts true?” Boyle asked him.
“I believe so, your honor,” Ogstad replied.
In addition to the written threats, Ogstad shared graphics depicting voting results for two gubernatorial candidates and detailing unfounded claims of voter fraud. He told the election workers that one candidate “crushed” the other, though the names are redacted in the indictment.
It’s unclear which gubernatorial candidates Ogstad referred to. Kari Lake beat out Karrin Taylor Robson for the Republican nomination, and current Governor Katie Hobbs handily defeated former Border Patrol chief of staff Marco Lopez Jr. in the Democratic Primary.
In the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, Blake Masters beat Jim Lamon and former Arizona Governor Mark Brnovich. Incumbent and current Senator Mark Kelly won the Democratic primary unchallenged.
Ogstad is a former business professor who has taught at numerous colleges and universities, including Maricopa Community Colleges from 2000 to 2002, according to his Linkedin account, which describes him as a speaker, writer and entrepreneur.
His account on X features multiple conspiracy theories about both elections and the Covid-19. In other posts, he calls the FBI “pussies” and “sick pedo fucks.”
Alongside written threats and election graphics, Ogstad shared with election workers on Aug, 3, 2022, an image of a “Woody” doll from the film “Toy Story” lying on the ground with an “unidentified projectile” in its back.
A delay in Ogstad’s flight from New York to Arizona on Thursday morning forced the court to push the hearing back from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Boyle warned that if he is late to his sentencing, Ogstad’s release conditions may be revoked and his sentence may be enhanced.