ATLANTA (AP) — An Alabama man pleaded guilty Tuesday to leaving threatening phone messages for the Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis and the county sheriff last summer because he was angry about the election interference investigation into the former president Donald Trump.
Arthur Ray Hanson II made the calls just over a week before Trump and 18 others were indicted on August 14 in Fulton County.
Hanson, of Huntsville, Alabama, told a federal judge during his plea hearing Tuesday that he never intended harm against Willis, whose office is prosecuting Trump and the others, or Sheriff Patrick Labat, whose staff has the former president in the Fulton County Jail arrested and took his mugshot.
“I made a stupid phone call,” Hanson said in court. “I’m not a violent person.”
He will be sentenced at a later date, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bret Hobson told the judge that prosecutors will seek leniency for Hanson because he took responsibility for his actions.
During the plea hearing, Hanson admitted that he called Fulton County government customer service on August 6 and left voicemails for the prosecutor and sheriff.
In one message, Hanson warned Willis: “If you indict Trump on that fourth charge, look over your shoulder when you’re alone.”
His message to Labat warned of the consequences of taking a photo of Trump in prison.
“If you take a mugshot of the president and you are the reason it happened, bad (expletives) will happen to you,” the voice message read, according to court records.
The indictment obtained by Willis’ office alleged that Trump and others had a broad scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. It was the fourth criminal case filed against the former president within months and was widely anticipated.
The sheriff publicly noted beforehand that anyone charged in the case would be prosecuted under normal procedures, including having their mugshot taken.
A federal grand jury indicted Hanson in October on charges of making interstate threats by telephone.
Hanson told U.S. Magistrate Regina Cannon on Tuesday that he was angry about the investigation into Trump and called hoping authorities would back down.
“I didn’t consciously know that I was threatening anyone,” he told the judge. “For me it was a warning.”
