Phoenix man sentenced for threatening to kill judge from his previous conviction

PHOENIX – A Phoenix man was sentenced to over four years in prison on Monday for threatening to the kill the judge in a previous case, authorities announced.

A federal judge in Tucson sentenced Clinton Mark Lewis, 52, to 51 months in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for District of Arizona.

Lewis pleaded guilty in May to influencing, impeding or retaliating against a federal official by threat.

The sentence for threatening the federal judge will begin after Lewis serves time in a related case.

Lewis was sentenced to 151 months in prison on July 25, 2022, after a jury found him guilty of possessing child pornography.

As the judge was pronouncing the sentence in that case, Lewis launched into a tirade filled with profanity and racial slurs, according to prosecutors.

He threatened to kill the judge and the judge’s grandchildren before being removed from the federal courtroom.

“Due process demands that a defendant have a meaningful opportunity to speak with a district judge at sentencing,” U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino said in a press release. “But the right to allocute is not a license to antagonize or intimidate. We will continue to separately charge those who threaten judicial officers during court proceedings, and to seek additional, consecutive sentences to discourage and deter this criminal behavior.”

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