61-year-old Brian Gaherty was sentenced Monday to nearly three years behind bars for making a series of phone calls to the Hawthorne office of Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, and threatening her with violence and death.
KNX News' Craig Fiegener was the only SoCal broadcast reporter in federal court as Waters told the judge she continues to suffer from nightmares.
Waters asked the judge to imprison Gaherty, fearing that letting him go free would inspire others to follow his actions.
Gaherty of Houston, Texas, was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine along with a 33-month term in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Gaherty pleaded guilty in January in downtown Los Angeles to one felony count of threatening a United States official.
A criminal indictment filed in federal court states that Gaherty called the congresswoman's office twice in August 2022 and twice in November 2022. Gaherty left four voicemails, each of which contained a threat.
For example, in one of the calls, Gaherty threatened to "cut your throat," court papers show, with another threatening to send a gang to--- "cap [her] between the eyes."
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With over 30 years serving in Congress, Waters said, despite the threats, she never considered leaving the job. "I never thought about it to tell you the truth. I thought I would be killed in Congress," she told Fiegener.
Gaherty "knowingly threatened to assault and kill" Waters "with the intent to impede, intimidate and interfere" with the elected official while she was engaged in the performance of her official duties, according to the April 2023 indictment.
During Monday's hearing, Gaherty told the judge that he recognized his voice on the recordings but didn't remember leaving many of the messages. His attorneys said some of the television news that Gaherty watched may have helped spur his actions.
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