Current:Home > StocksMontana man gets 18 months in federal prison for repeated racist phone calls made to a church -EverVision Finance
Montana man gets 18 months in federal prison for repeated racist phone calls made to a church
View
Date:2025-04-26 00:04:14
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! (7)
Related
- Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
- Elon Musk says he'll reverse Donald Trump Twitter ban
- Coronation Chair renovated and ready for King Charles III after 700 years of service
- Billie Eilish Is Now Acting as the Bad Guy in Surprise TV Role
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- King Charles' coronation crowns and regalia: Details on the Crown Jewels set to feature in the ceremony
- Why Taylor Swift's Red Lipstick Era Almost Didn't Happen
- A new app guides visitors through NYC's Chinatown with hidden stories
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Elon Musk says he'll reverse Donald Trump Twitter ban
Ranking
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- It's Been A Minute: Digital Privacy In A Possible Post-Roe World
- Clashes erupt in France on May Day as hundreds of thousands protest Macron's pension reforms
- 'Love Me Tender' and poison pills: Unpacking the Elon Musk-Twitter saga
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- Second pastor in Kenya accused of mass killing of his followers
- U.S. to send nuclear submarines to dock in South Korea for first time since 1980s
- King Charles III coronation guest list: Who's invited and who's stuck at home?
Recommendation
US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
The Indicator: Destroying Personal Digital Data
A delivery robot creates a poetic moment in the woods of England
U.S. tracking high-altitude balloon first spotted off Hawaii coast
All That You Wanted to Know About She’s All That
SpaceX brings 4 astronauts home with midnight splashdown
A digital conflict between Russia and Ukraine rages on behind the scenes of war
King Charles III coronation guest list: Who's invited and who's stuck at home?