EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A Eugene, Ore., man who ran a white supremacist website and sent letters that terrorized a community college professor was sentenced in federal court to four years in prison.
Gary Franklin, 58, pleaded guilty in January to two counts of threatening communications by mail. His prison term handed down Monday will be followed by three years of supervised release, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
Franklin targeted the professor in part because of her sexual orientation, the U.S. Department of Justice said in court documents. But the acts were not considered hate crimes because the letters were threats and did not “willfully cause bodily injury,” as federal statute requires.
Years after taking her class, Franklin sent two letters to the professor, which included threats and a violent picture showing a member of the LGBTQ+ community, according to the Justice Department.
