A Las Vegas man received a five-year prison sentence Monday for threatening federal judges and other officials involved in cases linked to President Donald Trump.
Spencer Gear, 34, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey to 60 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He had been convicted in February on nine counts of threatening a federal official and 11 counts of transmitting threats to injure. The threats occurred between November 2023 and July 2024. Gear targeted judges in Washington, D.C., as well as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who handled Trump's criminal case. Other targets included judges who oversaw cases involving Jan. 6 defendants. During sentencing, Gear told the court he was embarrassed by his language. Prosecutors had described him as a far-right extremist and a ticking time bomb during earlier hearings. The threats included violent and vulgar messages aimed at intimidating officials.