Audio By Carbonatix
A Texas woman who made violent threats in a voicemail left with the federal judge who oversaw the since-dismissed criminal election subversion case against President Donald Trump was sentenced on Wednesday to 27 months in prison.
Abigail Jo Shry of Alvin, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison in Houston after admitting last year she had threatened to kill anyone who went after Trump in a 2023 voicemail left with the chambers of U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, in Washington, D.C.
Prosecutors said that in her voicemail, Shry, 45, used a racist slur to address Chutkan, who is Black, and threatened to kill U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat who subsequently died in July 2024, other Democrats and members of the LGBTQ community.
"If Trump doesn't get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly, bitch," Shry said in the voicemail, according to charging documents.
WOMAN PLEADED GUILTY
She placed her call on August 5, 2023, just days after Special Counsel Jack Smith's election-subversion case was unsealed, charging Trump with conspiring to obstruct the collection and certification of votes following his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020's presidential election. Trump denied wrongdoing.
The effort by Trump and his allies to reverse his electoral loss culminated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol following a fiery speech by Trump near the White House.
The case was assigned to Chutkan, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama. After Trump was reelected in November 2024, she dismissed the case at the request of prosecutors, who cited a Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
Shry's call was not the only threat Chutkan faced while overseeing Trump's case. In January, she was the victim of an apparent "swatting" call falsely reporting a shooting at her home, prompting a police response.
Shry, in pleading guilty, acknowledged making the threat but said she thought it constituted freedom of speech and that she had no intention of carrying through with her threats.
Latest Stories
-
Church of Pentecost supports over 2,000 BECE candidates in Obuasi with career guidance seminar
40 minutes -
Brandon Asante and Coventry all but promoted to Premier League despite Sheffield Wednesday draw
1 hour -
GPL 2025/26: Late Kwartemaa strike downs Hearts in Tema
1 hour -
Ghana Faces Sierra Leone Moment as Prosecutorial Powers come under strain
1 hour -
Don’t consume fish or seafood from Tema Shipyard until further notice – FDA warns
1 hour -
Why volunteering might be Africa’s most underrated career accelerator
1 hour -
ActionAid Ghana raises concern over gender gaps in Feed Ghana Programme
2 hours -
Windstorm wreaks havoc in Gushegu, displacing nearly 2,000 residents and damaging schools
2 hours -
Friends of Bridget Bonnie Marks her 35th birthday with donation to Kasseh Model Health Centre
2 hours -
From Ekumfi Kokodo to the Pulpit Stage: Essi Donkor’s gospel journey takes shape
3 hours -
Landfilling waste management creates no value, it’s an economic waste
3 hours -
Photos: Speaker Bagbin Commissions MPs constituency office under parliamentary decentralisation programme
3 hours -
Black Stars technical advisor Winfried Schäfer sacked as GFA shakes up backroom staff
3 hours -
Wenchi water project almost complete, critical to gov’t agenda – GWL MD
3 hours -
Anti-LGBTQ+ bill not part of government’s legislative agenda – Inusah Fuseini
3 hours