Ohio man sentenced for threatening Dona Ana District Attorney

Update (October 9, 2024): A federal judge sentenced Fowler today to three years of supervised probation and a $1,000 fine for Communicating Interstate Threats.

The plea agreement comes after Fowler was arrested for allegedly making a racist rant on DA Byer's voicemail.

"DA Byers noted in his remarks to the court that it seemed ironic that Fowler’s racist rant focused on how his mere existence as a Black man was so inherently offensive to him, and Fowler never even bothered to mention the ethnicity of Hernandez or Gomez," a spokesperson for the DA's office explained Wednesday.

During the sentencing hearing, the judge offered Fowler the opportunity to apologize, and Fowler declined, the DA's Office spokesperson explained. He later "mouthed a very brief, muted apology which the Judge acknowledged as containing a small bit of remorse."

“I hope that as a result of this process Mr. Fowler does not allow himself to be a puppet for evil in the future," DA Byers stated Wednesday.

DONA ANA COUNTY, New Mexico (KVIA) -- 47-year-old Ohio resident Donald Walter Fowler just pleaded guilty to leaving a threatening voicemail for the Dona Ana County District Attorney.

Court documents state that Fowler left the voicemail on October 26, 2023, threatening District Attorney Gerald Byers, who is African American.

“There should be a noose in your future," Fowler said in the voicemail.

Fowler now faces up to three years in prison, as well as three years of supervised release afterward.