The Texas man who was indicted last year and accused of threatening to kill the U.S. representative. Maxine WatersD-Calif. has been sentenced to 33 months in prison in a series of phone calls, federal officials announced Monday.
Brian Michael Gaherty, 61, of Houston, was convicted Monday and fined $10,000 for his crimes, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California.
The office also noted that U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner found that Gaherty specifically targeted Waters, who is black, because of her race, and therefore added a hate crime enhancement to his sentence.
Joseph Vinas, an attorney representing Gaherty, said in a statement to NBC News that his client was “very apologetic for what happened,” adding that it is his “sincere belief that, in addition to the mental health condition from which he currently suffers As a result, if he himself had been the victim of a violent crime, this would never have occurred.”
Gaherty offered Waters, who was in court Monday for sentencing, “a sincere plea for her forgiveness and apologized to her and anyone affected by his comments,” Vinas said.
In January, Gaherty pleaded guilty to threatening a U.S. official, the USAO said. In his plea deal, Gaherty admitted that he threatened to assault and kill Waters four times in August and November 2022.
According to federal officials, “Gaherty made these threats with the intent to obstruct, intimidate, and interfere with Waters while she was engaged in the performance of her official duties.”
The four occasions all occurred via voicemail, which officials say Gaherty left on the phone at Waters’ Los Angeles County district office. In each of the four voicemails, Gaherty made a violent threat and used profanity, as well as racist and misogynistic language.
In the August 2022 incidents, Gaherty threatened to put ‘a hood’ between Waters’ eyes, [her] throat,” and “stomping” her, officials said.
Authorities contacted Gaherty in October 2022 and warned him to leave Waters alone. But a few weeks later he continued to leave threatening messages on her office phone.
Gaherty left two more voicemails for Waters in November 2022, telling Waters she was “done.” [expletive] up” because she reported his previous threats to law enforcement, adding, “This is not a threat. It is a … promise,” officials said.
In those phone calls, he also threatened Waters that he would run into her “on the street” and “step in” [her] “You better be on your guard,” prosecutors said. Gaherty also repeatedly warned Waters that he had a “mob” nearby that could harm her.
Gaherty was arrested in August 2023 and charged with eight counts related to the threats: four counts of uttering threats in interstate communications and four counts of threatening a U.S. official.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
