Current:Home > MarketsMontana man gets 18 months in federal prison for repeated racist phone calls made to a church-InfoLens
Montana man gets 18 months in federal prison for repeated racist phone calls made to a church
View Date:2024-12-23 12:01:16
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for making repeated threatening and racist phone calls to a Billings church for two years after he went there seeking help and received a gift card from a Black employee, prosecutors said.
Joshua Leon Hiestand, 41, was sentenced Friday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Montana. Hiestand pleaded guilty in June to making harassing telephone calls. A stalking charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
“When Hiestand, a white man, went to a Billings church looking for help, an elderly African American woman who worked there responded with kindness and assistance,” U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said in a statement. “In return and for nearly two years, Hiestand launched a barrage of harassing, hateful and racist calls and voicemails at her and the church. His racist conduct isn’t just abhorrent, it is illegal.”
Prosecutors alleged Hiestand went to the Presbyterian church in November 2020 seeking help. Five days later, the church received a voicemail in which someone, using a racially derogatory term, said he would give more money to the church if the church did not employ an African American. After three similar calls, the woman called Billings police.
A detective called the number used to leave the messages and spoke to Hiestand, who admitted making the calls and apologized for his behavior, prosecutors said. He was told to have no further contact with the church. Three days later, he left a voicemail with the church in which he apologized, court records said.
However, over the next 19 months Hiestand called and left a series of voicemails at the church that were at times threatening and racially hostile, prosecutors said. Investigators determined that after January 2021, Hiestand was placing the calls from outside the state of Montana.
Hiestand was arrested in November 2022 in Indiana and has remained in custody since then.
Hiestand’s public defender Gillian Gosch asked for a sentence of time served, arguing her client’s actions were affected by his mental health issues, which have resulted in psychiatric hospitalizations and which appear to be worsened by his use of illegal substances.
The Bureau of Prisons will decide whether Hiestand will receive credit for the 11 months he has already been in custody, officials said.
Hiestand remained in custody in the Yellowstone County jail on Monday.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Man waives jury trial in killing of Georgia nursing student
- Wisconsin man accused of pepper-spraying police at US Capitol on Jan. 6 pleads guilty
- Jeezy files for divorce from Jeannie Mai after 2 years of marriage
- Kentucky coroner left dead man's body in a hot van overnight, traumatizing family, suit says
- The NBA Cup is here. We ranked the best group stage games each night
- Big Pharma’s Johnson & Johnson under investigation in South Africa over ‘excessive’ drug prices
- Women’s World Cup winners maintain boycott of Spain’s national team. Coach delays picking her squad
- Biden sending aides to Detroit to address autoworkers strike, says ‘record profits’ should be shared
- Brianna LaPaglia Addresses Zach Bryan's Deafening Silence After Emotional Abuse Allegations
- Big Pharma’s Johnson & Johnson under investigation in South Africa over ‘excessive’ drug prices
Ranking
- Missouri prosecutor says he won’t charge Nelly after an August drug arrest
- Uncertain and afraid: Florida’s immigrants grapple with a disrupted reality under new law
- In San Francisco, Kenya’s president woos American tech companies despite increasing taxes at home
- Sia Details “Severe” Depression for 3 Years After Divorce From Erik Anders Lang
- Jennifer Garner Details Navigating Grief 7 Months After Death of Her Dad William Garner
- Judge temporarily halts trial in New York's fraud lawsuit against Trump
- Remains exhumed from a Tulsa cemetery as the search for 1921 Race Massacre victims has resumed
- Ovidio Guzman Lopez, son of El Chapo, brought to US: Sources
Recommendation
-
Satire publication The Onion acquires Alex Jones' Infowars at auction
-
Prince Harry Is Royally Flushed After His Invictus Family Sings Happy Birthday to Him
-
Thousands of South Korean teachers are rallying for new laws to protect them from abusive parents
-
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment trial: Senate begins deliberations
-
Halle Berry surprises crowd in iconic 2002 Elie Saab gown from her historic Oscar win
-
Michigan man cleared of killing 2 hunters to get $1 million for wrongful convictions
-
TikTok is hit with $368 million fine under Europe’s strict data privacy rules
-
Man convicted of bomb threat outside Library of Congress sentenced to probation after year in jail