Arizona man sentenced to 21 months for threatening to kill House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Mar 1, 2022, 7:20 AM
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (File Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(File Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
PHOENIX — An Arizona man was sentenced to 21 months in prison last week after being convicted of threatening to kill Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, authorities said.
Steven Arthur Martis, 77, of Bullhead City, will also have three years of supervised release after being released from prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, said in a press release.
He called Speaker Pelosi’s Washington District Office on Jan. 17, 2021, and left two voicemails, authorities said.
Martis in the first voicemail threatened, “I’m coming to kill you…” while in the second voicemail said, “You’re dead…”
The FBI prior to the two voicemails had approached and warned Martis about making similar calls in the past, authorities said.
“This case is an important reminder that, although the First Amendment protects our rights to free speech, which is one of our most precious individual rights, the United States Attorney’s Office takes threats to kill or harm another individual through a phone call or other form of interstate communications very seriously,” Acting United States Attorney Glenn B. McCormick said in the statement after Martis was found guilty of the charge in November.
Investigation of the case was conducted by the FBI, with assistance from the United States Capitol Police.
