Former OC man gets 84 months for threats against family court judge

A former Orange County man was sentenced Thursday to serve 84 months in federal prison for threatening to kill the superior court judge who presided over his family law case, capping a prosecution that began after a series of violent messages he sent from Mexico in 2023.

U.S. District Court Judge Fred W. Slaughter imposed the sentence on Byrom Zuniga Sanchez, 34, formerly of Laguna Niguel, and ordered him to pay $22,790 in restitution. United States v. Byrom Zuniga Sanchez, 8:24-CR-00030-JWH (C.D. Cal., filed May 8, 2024).

"[Sanchez's] terrifying embrace of his offenses - his delight at the pain of others - and his total lack of remorse increases the already substantial need for specific deterrence," prosecutors wrote in the sentencing memorandum.

A federal jury convicted Sanchez in December after roughly an hour of deliberation at the close of a three-day trial, finding him guilty of two counts of threats by interstate and foreign communication. He has been in federal custody since his February 2024 arrest at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Santa Ana attorney Kenneth A. Reed represented Sanchez and was unavailable for comment.

Prosecutors said that between May and July 2023, Sanchez sent multiple emails threatening to kill the judge and harm others, including additional judicial officers, attorneys and law enforcement personnel. Investigators believe he was in Mexico at the time.

Evidence at trial included a July 2023 email to the victim judge's former courtroom stating, "I am more committed to murdering you than I am to being present as a father." In the same message, Sanchez wrote, "You're already dead. The remainder of my life will be dedicated to assassinating judges, attorneys, and a police station's entire shift staff."

Prosecutors also said Sanchez posted threatening statements on social media. On Instagram, he wrote: "Don't pretend you allow me the right to die without robbing me of the autonomy to bring all of Lamoureux with me. With access to a weapon, it is easier for me to walk into a courthouse and indiscriminately assassinate because I notified lawyers and judges."