Man sentenced to 11 months in prison for leaving ‘threatening voicemails’ for Nancy Pelosi, Alejandro Mayorkas

David Allen Carrier, 44, pleaded guilty to two counts of making threats against a federal official in December after being indicted by a grand jury three months earlier.

According to the Department of Justice, on Thursday, January 21, 2021, Carrier called then-speaker Pelosi's office and left a voicemail message in which he "threatened to assault the Congresswoman."

While entering his guilty plea, Carrier admitted that he "acted with the intent to interfere with her performance as she was engaged with her official duties as a Member of Congress."

On June 30, 2022, Carrier then called the DHS hotline and "left a voicemail message threatening to assault United States Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas," again with "the intent to interfere with the Secretary while the Secretary was engaged in the performance of his official duties as the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security."

In addition to his prison term, Carrier has been ordered to serve three years of supervised release, during which time he is to have no direct or indirect contact with Pelosi or Mayorkas.

"Participating in the public political conversation is an important right for all citizens," US Attorney Ismail J Ramsey said following the verdict. "Nevertheless, threatening our public servants is not protected by the First Amendment and corrodes our ability to engage in peaceful and important public discourse. This Office will not tolerate behavior that crosses the line to criminal threats."

His sentiments were echoed by FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Tripp.

"Violent threats targeting elected officials also threaten our democratic system," Tripp said. "Today's sentence demonstrates that anyone who sends politically motivated threats of violence to government officials will be investigated by the FBI and held accountable."