Ohio man gets 3-year probation for threatening New Mexico DA

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — An Ohio man avoided prison time and was sentenced to three years of probation Wednesday for sending a threatening voicemail with racist overtones to a New Mexico district attorney last year, authorities said.

Prosecutors said 47-year-old Donald Walter Fowler, of Lido, Ohio, didn’t like the way authorities and Gerald Byers were handling the investigation of a fatal shooting involving a Las Cruces police officer last October.

They said Fowler targeted Byers, who is Black.

Fowler was accused of leaving an expletive-filled voicemail on Oct. 26 for Byers, which included “there should be a noose in your future.”

Authorities said records traced the call to Fowler.

He was arrested in November, indicted the following month and reached a plea agreement in June.

Fowler was facing up to three years in prison at his sentencing for a felony charge of communicating interstate threats.

Jessica Martin, a lawyer for Fowler, didn’t immediately return a call Wednesday seeking comment on the case.

Byers said Fowler’s threat disrupted police agency operations, required enhanced security measures at the district attorney’s office and necessitated additional security measures for his home and family.

The U.S. is gripped by intense debates regarding justice, race and democracy. Black prosecutors have emerged as central figures litigating those issues, highlighting the achievements and limits of Black communal efforts to reform the justice system.