Dante Phearse, 33, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kenneth M.
Hoyt to serve 33 months in prison for calling in a bomb threat to
Congregation Beth Israel, a synagogue in Houston. The announcement is
being made jointly by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division
and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Phearse was further ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution and will
serve three years of supervised release following completion of his
prison term.
On April 28, 2014, Phearse pleaded guilty to the civil rights violation
of threatening to bomb a synagogue and to making a telephone bomb
threat. As part of his plea, Phearse admitted that on April 30, 2013,
he willfully obstructed members of Congregation Beth Israel from
enjoying the free exercise of their religious beliefs by threat of force
with an explosive device. Phearse also admitted to using an instrument
of interstate commerce to communicate a threat to kill and injure
people and to destroy a building by means of an explosive device.
As a result of Phearse’s threats, the school at Congregation Beth Israel
was closed for a day and extra security was hired to guard the
synagogue and school, thus obstructing the synagogues’ members in the
enjoyment of the free exercise of their religious beliefs.
The FBI investigated the case with the assistance of the Houston Police
Department. Trial Attorneys Nicholas Murphy and Saeed Mody of the Civil
Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ruben Perez and Joe
Magliolo are prosecuting in cooperation with the Harris County District
Attorney’s Office.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment