MAN SENTENCED TO 33 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR THREAT TO BOMB SYNAGOGUE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Monday, June 30, 2014

Houston Man Sentenced for Threatening to Bomb Synagogue

Dante Phearse, 33, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt to serve 33 months in prison for calling in a bomb threat to Congregation Beth Israel, a synagogue in Houston.  The announcement is being made jointly by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.  Phearse was further ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution and will serve three years of supervised release following completion of his prison term.

On April 28, 2014, Phearse pleaded guilty to the civil rights violation of threatening to bomb a synagogue and to making a telephone bomb threat.  As part of his plea, Phearse admitted that on April 30, 2013, he willfully obstructed members of Congregation Beth Israel from enjoying the free exercise of their religious beliefs by threat of force with an explosive device.  Phearse also admitted to using an instrument of interstate commerce to communicate a threat to kill and injure people and to destroy a building by means of an explosive device.  
As a result of Phearse’s threats, the school at Congregation Beth Israel was closed for a day and extra security was hired to guard the synagogue and school, thus obstructing the synagogues’ members in the enjoyment of the free exercise of their religious beliefs.

The FBI investigated the case with the assistance of the Houston Police Department.  Trial Attorneys Nicholas Murphy and Saeed Mody of the Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ruben Perez and Joe Magliolo are prosecuting in cooperation with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

THREATENING SYNAGOGUE LEADS TO CHARGE OF CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Monday, August 26, 2013
Man Who Threatened Synagogue in Fargo, North Dakota, Charged with Civil Rights Violation

Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Jocelyn Samuels and U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota Timothy Q. Purdon announced that Dominique Jason Flanigan was arraigned today on civil rights and threats charges.

Flanigan was indicted under seal by a grand jury on Dec. 12, 2012, for threatening a synagogue in Fargo, N.D.   The two-count indictment charges Flanigan with issuing a threatening interstate communication and with interfering with a federally protected activity.   The indictment was unsealed prior to his arraignment.

The indictment alleges that, on Jan. 4, 2011, Flanigan called Temple Beth El in Fargo, and left a voice mail message threatening the employees of the synagogue.   The indictment charges that this threat intimidated and interfered with Temple Beth El employees because of their religion.

An indictment is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lynn C. Jordheim and Megan A. Healy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of North Dakota and Trial Attorney Dana Mulhauser of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division.