• Arthur Ray Hanson II was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison for leaving threatening phone messages for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat.
• Hanson left voicemails that prosecutors said were filled with profanity and racial slurs last summer when he was angry about an investigation into former President Donald Trump.
• Hanson pleaded guilty in June to leaving threatening phone messages. He cried as he apologized to Willis and Labat at Tuesday’s hearing.

An Alabama man who left threatening phone messages for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and the county sheriff last summer because he was angry about an investigation into former President Donald Trump was sentenced Tuesday to nearly two years in prison.

Arthur Ray Hanson II, of Huntsville, made the phone calls just over a week before Trump and 18 others were indicted in Fulton County in August 2023 for efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Prosecutors Federal officials say Hanson left voicemails filled with profanities and racial slurs for Willis and Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat.

U.S. District Judge JP Boulee in Atlanta said he found Hanson’s behavior “appalling” and that the victims’ fear was “real and legitimate.” He sentenced Hanson to serve one year and nine months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He also ordered Hanson to pay a fine of $7,500.

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Hanson had pleaded guilty in June to leaving threatening phone messages. Speaking for nearly 10 minutes during Tuesday’s hearing, Hanson cried as she apologized to Willis and Labat.

“I’m so sorry I made those phone calls,” he said. “That’s not who I am.”

Willis told the judge that the threats made her fear not only for herself but also for the lives of her daughters and her father. Before being a district attorney, she is a mother, she told the judge: “Mom was very scared.”

Arthur Ray Hanson II of Huntsville, Alabama, was sentenced to nearly two years in prison for leaving threatening phone messages for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat last summer. when Hanson was angered by an investigation into former President Donald Trump. (Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images)

Labat also briefly addressed the court, saying the threats exposed his family to the “ugly side of work.”

Defense attorney Tyler Wolas told the judge that Hanson has a history of alcohol abuse. In pushing for a lesser sentence, he also said Hanson suffers from grand mal seizures and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after his arrest. Wolas noted that Hanson had completed an anger management course and regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Three of Hanson’s friends and his 19-year-old son told the judge that he is a good and generous person and that those phone calls do not reflect the man they know.

Hanson said he had been drinking and did not remember leaving the messages. He said he felt “repulsion and disgust” when he heard the recordings. He said he is not racist, although he acknowledged it might seem that way, and said Willis and Labat did not deserve to be threatened.

I used to be someone who habitually commented online and allowed myself to get stuck in a “social media frenzy” he said, adding that he quit social media and stopped drinking.

The August 14, 2023, Fulton County indictment was the fourth criminal case brought against Trump in a matter of months and was widely anticipated. When asked by reporters shortly before he was returned whether Trump would have his mugshot taken if he were indicted, the sheriff said, “Unless someone tells me otherwise, we are following our normal practices and therefore it doesn’t matter your status, I’ll have a mugshot ready for you.”

Hanson called the Fulton County government customer service line and left voicemails for the prosecutor and sheriff on August 6, 2023. Prosecutors included transcripts of the messages in a sentencing memorandum submitted to the court.

In a message to Willis, Hanson warned her to be careful, that she won’t always have people around who can protect her and that there will be times when she would be vulnerable. “When you accuse Trump of that fourth impeachment, as long as you’re alone, look over your shoulder,” he said, according to the transcript.

In the message to Labat, Hanson threatened the sheriff and warned him not to take a mugshot of Trump. “I’m just telling you that if you take a mugshot of the president and you’re the reason it happened, something bad will probably happen to you,” the voicemail said, according to court records.

Hanson’s attorneys had asked that he be sentenced to probation and community service or home confinement instead of prison. They pointed out that his 19-year-old son lives with him and that his mother has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has little time left to live.

Prosecutor Bret Hobson called Hanson’s crime “incredibly serious” and said it caused real harm to the victims and their families. He asked for the sentence he was given, which was at the low end of federal sentencing guidelines. He maintained that anyone who consider threatening a public official “He needs to think that prison is a possibility.”

Boulee said he would have given Hanson a longer sentence, but took into account what his attorneys and loved ones said, as well as prosecutors’ recommendation. But he made it clear that he found Hanson’s behavior unacceptable.

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“To add insult to injury, you not only attacked them for doing their job, but you attacked them because of the color of their skin,” Boulee said. He said the racial slurs in the messages were an “attempt to make them feel low and less valued.”

Willis said after the hearing that he had forgiven Hanson. He said it was important for the judge to mention the racist nature of the threats so that black people know they can come to the courtroom and feel protected.

Willis is running for reelection and the case against Trump is largely on hold pending a pretrial appeal. But when asked if he plans to continue prosecuting him if Trump wins next month’s presidential election, Willis said he plans to “continue to prosecute every case in my office.”