A Montana man from Billings, Anthony James Cross, has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for leaving threatening voicemail messages aimed at Democratic U.S. Senator Jon Tester and his family. Cross, aged 30, pleaded guilty to charges of making threats to injure and murder a U.S. senator in January.
The sentencing was presided over by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Watters, who approved a plea agreement that resulted in the dismissal of a charge related to threats made against President Joe Biden. Senator Tester's office did not provide an immediate response to requests for comment on the matter.
This incident is part of a concerning trend of increasing threats against public officials in the United States. Members of Congress, their spouses, election workers, and local elected officials have all been targets of such threats in recent years.
Another Montana resident, Kevin Patrick Smith of Kalispell, was also sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in August 2023 for making threats to kill Senator Tester. Smith had left threatening voicemails at the senator's office in Kalispell.
