Oklahoma man charged over mailing letters with powder to lawmakers

An Oklahoma man is facing federal charges amid allegations that he sent more than 700 letters containing a white powdery substance to public officials, lawmakers, media organizations and others in the weeks before the 2024 and 2026 elections.

Robin Martin was charged Sunday on counts of conveying false or misleading information and hoaxes and mailing threatening communications, according to an unsealed criminal complaint. He could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted on both charges.

An attorney was not listed for Martin in public court filings.

Martin is accused of sending mail to state election officials in September 2024 containing a nontoxic white substance and a three-page letter titled “DECLARATION OF WAR” that contained purported grievances about the 2020 election, including that President Trump won. Threatening messages were also scrawled on the envelopes of some packages in UV-reactive ink.

The mailings were purportedly sent from the “United States Traitor Elimination Army,” which the letters described as a “top-secret military organization with members all around the country,” according to court documents.

The return address traced to a business with multiple office suites in Takoma Park, Md., that was once used by the Green Party, but an FBI official said the agency has not identified any connection between the sender and the address.

Martin’s arrest came weeks after the FBI opened an investigation into reports of suspicious packages being sent to dozens of congressional offices of both parties ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Authorities said in filings that the specific contents of those letters varied, but all of them contained a common message of “YOU WILL BE ARRESTED FOR TREASON!! OR WORSE!!” The powders were determined to be either yeast or flour, but the FBI has not yet intercepted or fully tested all the letters.

Martin is the second person to face charges for allegedly mailing suspicious packages ahead of the November election. An Illinois man was arrested last month for allegedly sending them to four members of Congress in the state.