OAKLAND — A Concord man has been sentenced to 11 months in federal prison after directing voicemail threats to Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, authorities said Thursday.
Senior U.S. District Judge William Alsup gave the sentence to 44-year-old David Carrier. In a statement, U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey of the Northern District of California said Carrier pleaded guilty to two counts of making threats against a federal official.
Ramsey said Carrier made the threats against Pelosi, who represents San Francisco, on Jan. 21, 2021, when Pelosi was still speaker of the house. The threats against Mayorkas came on June 30, 2022, Ramsey said. A federal grand jury indicted Carrier in September.
According to Ramsey, Carrier in his plea acknowledged that he was trying to interfere with Pelosi’s performance in her capacity as the house speaker by threatening to assault her. The plea also acknowledges that Carrier did the same thing to Mayorkas 17 months later, Ramsey said.
“Participating in the public political conversation is an important right for all citizens,” Ramsey said in his statement. “Nevertheless, threatening our public servants is not protected by the First Amendment and corrodes our ability to engage in peaceful and important public discourse.”
Carrier will be on supervised probation for three years after his prison release, and he was ordered to stay away from Pelosi and Mayorkas. Ramsey said Carrier must attend mental health counseling and substance abuse treatment while on probation.
