SANTA ANA, Calif. (KNX) — A Laguna Beach man described as a “con man” was convicted again on Friday on charges of plotting to have a federal judge and several other law enforcement officers killed.
John Arthur Walthall, 66, while serving a 14-year sentence in Lompoc federal prison for a phony gold-mining scheme. Was accused of plotting the murder of officials he believed were responsible for his incarceration.
Prosecutors alleged Walthall informed other inmates of his plans, who then contacted the FBI. An undercover FBI agent then went into prison to talk to Walthall and record their conversations.
Audio captured during those discussions captured Walthall saying he wanted the former U.S. Judge Andrew Guilford to suffer a “nice and painful death” by being put in a wood chipper. He allegedly told the agent he wanted other agents along with federal prosecutors to be “killed on the spot.”
Walthall’s lawyers say other inmates planted the scheme in his head so they could inform on him, thus reducing time on their own prison sentences. They also refuted the claim that Walthall’s threats amounted to a scheme, insisting the defendant was prone to erratic, rambling, stream-of-consciousness-style speech.
“Words alone are not a crime,” Walthall’s attorney said on Friday. “This isn’t a crime, it is a fantasy.”
Prosecutors alleged Walthall had a history of seeking violent revenge against law enforcement officials, however. They said he purchased three firearms and a silencer in 2011 while awaiting a ruling on his fraud trial, and even scouted potential sites to dump and bury bodies before being taken into custody.
Walthall was convicted of the threat charges in 2016. In 2019, a federal appeals court overturned that decision, finding that Walthall had been improperly denied the right to represent himself at trial.
Jurors on Friday deliberated for roughly three hours before finding Walthall guilty once again. He is scheduled to return to court for sentencing in August.
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