Despite President Trump’s waves of pardons for allies and supporters who sought to overturn his 2020 election loss and his clemency for all Capitol riot defendants, at least one federal case with tethers to the 2020 election still lingered.
Now, a federal judge in Houston has sentenced Abigail Shry to 27 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, after she pleaded guilty to phoning a vulgar, violent and racist threat to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in August 2023.
The threat was made hours after Chutkan was assigned to oversee Mr. Trump’s criminal case for allegedly conspiring to overturn his 2020 loss, of which Jan. 6 was a component.
In court Wednesday before Judge Keith Ellison, Shry apologized to anyone who was subjected to hearing her “abhorrent” voicemail, saying that it “was not and is not reflective of my character or beliefs.”
In charging documents, the Justice Department said Shry, 45, left a voicemail for Chutkan in which she threatened to kill anyone who “went after President Trump.”
The document alleged Shry referred to Chutkan as a “slave,” used a racial epithet and made threats against a Texas Democratic congresswoman, “all Democrats” and the LGBTQ community.
Shry’s voice message also said, “If Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly,” according to the Justice Department’s court filings.
Investigators say they linked the message to Shry after determining her cellphone number was used to make the threatening call.
Shry pleaded guilty in November 2024 to a federal charge of transmitting an interstate threat. Her sentencing hearing had been postponed multiple times before Wednesday’s court date. Prosecutors requested a sentence of 33 months.
