Alabama too who left threatening phone messages for Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis and the county sheriff last summer because he was angry at an investigation Former President Donald Trump was sentenced Tuesday to nearly two years in federal prison.
Arthur Ray Hanson II, of Huntsville, made these phone calls a little more than a week before Trump and 18 others were charged in Fulton County in August 2023 for their efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election Federal prosecutors say Hanson left voicemails containing profanity and racial slurs for Willis and Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat.
U.S. District Judge JP Boulee in Atlanta said he found Hanson’s behavior “appalling” and that the victims’ fear was “real and legitimate.” He sentenced Hanson to one year and nine months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He also ordered Hanson to pay a fine of $7,500.
Hanson pleaded guilty in June to leaving threatening phone messages. Speaking for nearly 10 minutes during Tuesday’s hearing, Hanson was in tears as she apologized to Willis and Labat.
“I’m really sorry I made those phone calls,” he said. “That’s not who I am.”
Willis told the judge that the threats made her fear not only for herself but also for the lives of her daughters and her father. Before being a prosecutor, she is a mother, she told the judge: “Mom was really scared.”
Labat also briefly addressed the court, saying the threats exposed his family to the “ugly side of the job.”
Defense attorney Tyler Wolas told the judge that Hanson had a history of alcohol abuse. In calling for a lesser sentence, he also said Hanson suffered from grand mal seizures and after his arrest was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Wolas noted that Hanson had taken an anger management course and regularly attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Three of Hanson’s friends and his 19-year-old son told the judge that he was a good and generous person and that those phone calls did not reflect the man they knew.
Hanson said he had been drinking and did not remember leaving the messages. He said he was “repulsed and sickened” when he heard the recordings. He said he was not racist, although he acknowledged it might seem that way, and said Willis and Labat did not deserve to be threatened.
He commented regularly online and got caught up in a “social media frenzy”, he said, adding that he gave up social media and stopped drinking.
The Fulton County indictment regarding August 14, 2023was the fourth criminal case filed against Trump in months and was widely anticipated. When reporters asked shortly before his release whether Trump would have a mugshot taken if he was charged, the sheriff responded: “Unless someone tells me otherwise, we are following our normal practices and therefore your status doesn’t matter. I will have a passport photo ready for you.”
Hanson called Fulton County government customer service and left voicemails for the prosecutor and sheriff on Aug. 6, 2023. Prosecutors included transcripts of the messages in a sentencing memo submitted to the court.
In a message to Willis, Hanson warned her to be careful, that she would not always have someone around to protect her and that there would be times when she would be vulnerable. “When you charge Trump with this fourth indictment, every time you’re alone, look over your shoulder,” he said, according to the transcript.
In the message to Labat, Hanson threatened the sheriff, warning him not to take a photo of Trump. “I’m just telling you, if you take a picture of the president and you’re the reason this happened, bad (expletive) is probably going to happen to you,” the voicemail said, according to court records.
Hanson’s attorneys had asked that he be sentenced to probation and community service or home confinement rather than prison. They noted that his 19-year-old son lives with him and that his mother has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has little time to live.
Prosecutor Bret Hobson called Hanson’s crime “incredibly serious” and said he caused real harm to the victims and their families. He asked about the sentence, which was at the low end of the federal sentencing guidelines. He argued that anyone considering threatening a public official “must think that prison is a possibility.”
Boulee said he would have given Hanson a longer sentence, but he took into account what his lawyers and relatives said, as well as prosecutors’ recommendations. But he made it clear that he found Hanson’s behavior unacceptable.
“To add insult to injury, you not only attacked them because they were doing their job, you attacked them because of the color of their skin,” Boulee said. He said the racist slurs in the messages were an “attempt to make them feel weak and less valued.”
Willis said after the hearing that she had forgiven Hanson. She said it was important for the judge to mention the racist nature of the threats so Black people know they can walk into a courtroom and feel protected.
Willis is running for re-election and the case against Trump is largely waiting while a pre-trial appeal is pending. But when asked if she plans to pursue prosecution if Trump wins next month’s presidential election, Willis said she plans to “continue to pursue every case in my office.”
