James 'Russell' Bolton, 51, is wanted by authorities in Washington State

A man who once ran for sheriff is wanted by authorities for allegedly trying to extort members of his own far-right militia by writing anonymous letters posing as a member of a Mexican drug cartel.

Authorities in Washington State have issued an arrest warrant for James ‘Russell’ Bolton, 51.

Bolton, who came in last in a four-way race for Stevens County Sheriff in 2010, faces at least six charges of extortion and attempted theft, according to The Spokesman-Review of Spokane.

He is best known as the former leader of Stevens County Assembly, a right-wing militia that bills itself as a ‘volunteer, independent body of God-fearing American citizens’ that seeks to ‘protect family and property’ and ‘secure real American communities during the present insurgent political and social changes.’

Local authorities allege that Bolton also pushed an associate down a flight of stairs and tried to suffocate him with a plastic bag in Spokane.

Bolton had earlier told the man that his own wife had been kidnapped and that he needed to pay a $100,000 ransom to free her, according to police.

A warrant for Bolton’s arrest was approved by a Washington state judge after authorities conducted a two-month investigation.

Law enforcement officials say Bolton wrote a number of threatening letters to militia members.

‘The author of the letters claimed to be an organization from outside of the United States and insinuated that it was likely from a Mexican cartel,’ a detective wrote.

One man said he found a letter taped to a gate outside his girlfriend’s house near Deer Park, Washington, on February 26.

The letter demanded $10,000 in cash.

In 2010, Bolton came in last in a four-way race for sheriff of Stevens County

If the sum wasn’t paid, there would be physical harm done to the family of the recipient, according to the letter.

Another woman told investigators she received a similar letter that was taped to a tree near her house.

The letter required them to put an envelope stuffed with cash into their mailbox, which would be picked up at a later time.

Anticipating the letter’s author’s arrival, the couple near Deer Park set up a hidden camera.

Instead of putting cash into the envelope, they stuffed it with a ‘thief detection’ powder that turns a human’s skin purple when coming into contact.

The man who received the letter told police that the powder can be readily bought online.

The couple who placed the hidden camera then showed the video to authorities.

The footage shows a small white SUV stopping at the mailbox, but authorities say that the film was too blurry to enable a positive identification.

The man also told investigators that he pursued the SUV, but the driver sped away.

Another couple from the town of Rice also reported finding a similar letter inside a manila envelope that was placed on their car’s windshield on the morning of February 28.

The letter contained personal details, including their names and addresses, police say.

The letter threatened the couple that they would die and their property would be taken if they did not pay $250,000 within 15 days, it has been alleged.

Failure to pay would result in the letter’s authors visiting the couple’s relatives in California, according to authorities.

The couple reported the letter to sheriff’s deputies on March 12. They told investigators that they placed a red ribbon on their flag pole as a signal that they had received the letter.

The couple also told investigators that they were so frightened by the threat that they met with their stockbroker as an initial step toward meeting the sender's demands.

The man said he started carrying a gun and looked into getting a bulletproof vest.

‘I could see that they were scared,’ Stevens County Undersheriff Loren Erdman wrote in his report.

As investigators worked to trace the source of the letters, they learned that the two men who received letters both knew Bolton through meetings of the Stevens County Assembly.

On March 18, Bolton was interviewed by a detective at his office in Chewelah, a rural town about 50 miles from Spokane.

Bolton claimed that he was the target of threatening phone calls and emails, but he never forwarded the emails to detectives who had requested to see them.

Investigators then looked into Bolton’s profile.

Bolton (seen above during his service in the Marine Corps) is alleged to have sent threatening letters demanding money from members of his own militia

‘I was advised numerous times of Bolton’s military background, counter-insurgency training, him being a private investigator and working with various law enforcement agencies in North Carolina and Virginia, and the fact that he currently trains members of the Stevens County Assembly in hand-to-hand combat,’ the detective wrote.

Days after Bolton was interviewed, authorities allege that he pushed a man down a flight of stairs in a home in north Spokane.

As the man tried to get up, Bolton allegedly tried to suffocate him with a plastic bag.

Bolton then stopped and told the man that someone kidnapped his wife and was demanding a $100,000 ransom, according to authorities.

After the assault was reported, the victim told investigators that he believed Bolton’s story.

He even told his stockbroker to sell his portfolio and prepare a $100,000 check, which was waiting at an office to be picked up.

The alleged assault victim told police Bolton sent him two emails.

One of them read: ‘Contact me when the transaction is ready...Be discreet. They are calling me every day and following me everywhere.’

Investigators say Bolton is the owner of a 2013 white Ford Edge, though the hidden camera video is too grainy to definitely determine whether that was the vehicle outside the home of the couple near Deer Park.

Detectives were reportedly planning to squirt water inside the vehicle to see if it would reveal the theft-detection powder, though it is not yet known if this had happened.