The Ohio man who sent the Doña Ana County District Attorney Gerald Byers racist threats received a sentence of three years supervised probation and a $1,000.00 fine.
Donald Walter Fowler, of Lido, Ohio, pleaded guilty on June 17, 2024, to the federal felony offense of communicating interstate threats. The FBI accused Fowler, 47, of sending a two-minute voicemail to Gerald Byers that contained racist threats – including the phrase “there should be a noose in your future” – on Oct. 23, 2023.
Fowler left a voicemail complaining about Byers' handling of criminal charges against police officers. Specifically, Fowler believed that Byers did not act quickly enough when pressing charges against Felipe Hernandez after he killed Teresa Gomez.
“I hope that as a result of this process, Mr. Fowler does not allow himself to be a puppet for evil in the future,” Byers said in a news release.
