Archive · 13 Nov 2025
Texas Woman Sentenced for Threatening Judge in Trump Case
A woman named Abigail Shry made a scary voicemail for a judge named Tanya Chutkan.
The judge was in charge of a legal case involving a former president, Donald Trump.
In the message, Shry said mean things, used bad words, and threatened to hurt the judge and other people if Donald Trump wasn't elected president again.
She even used a racial slur against the judge, who is Black.
Shry later admitted she left the message.
She was told she threatened the judge and others.
She will go to prison for over two years.
She said she didn't really mean to hurt anyone and thought it was just her freedom of speech.
But the judge decided she needed to go to jail for her words.
A Texas woman, Abigail Jo Shry, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for threatening a federal judge.
Shry left a voicemail on August 5, 2023, for U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who oversaw Donald Trump's election subversion case.
The voicemail contained violent threats and racist remarks directed at Judge Chutkan and also threatened other Democrats and members of the LGBTQ community.
Shry pleaded guilty, admitting to making the threat but claiming it was free speech with no intention to act.
The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison in Houston.
- Who
- Abigail Jo Shry, a 45-year-old woman from Alvin, Texas
- What
- Sentenced to 27 months in prison for making violent threats in a voicemail to the chambers of U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
- When
- Sentenced on Wednesday, following a call made on August 5, 2023.
- Where
- Houston, Texas (sentencing); Washington, D.C. (judge's chambers)
- Why
- Shry made the threats in a voicemail to Judge Chutkan, who was overseeing the election subversion case against Donald Trump, after the case was unsealed.
Prosecution's Stance
Defense's Stance
Nature of the Threat
Prosecution's Stance
The voicemail contained violent threats, including racial slurs and death threats against the judge and others, constituting a serious offense.
Defense's Stance
The defendant believed her statements constituted freedom of speech and did not intend to carry out the threats.
- Defendant
- Abigail Jo Shry
- Sentence
- 27 months in prison
- Date of Call
- August 5, 2023
- Judge Targeted
- U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan
- Case Related To
- Donald Trump's election subversion case
- Plea
- Guilty