Will Michael admits that leaving a profanity-laced death threat on the voicemail of a federal ranger involved in a Nevada cattle ranch standoff that made national headlines "wasn't such a good idea."
But the Emmaus man — the only person arrested among the hundreds who left phone messages for Chief Ranger Mike Roop following the altercation at Cliven Bundy's ranch — won't serve a long prison sentence for the crime.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg in Philadelphia sentenced Michael, 24, to one day of imprisonment, to be followed by three years' supervised release, and a $200 special assessment. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Michael could have been sentenced to 15 to 21 months behind bars. Waldron said the sentence was a wake-up call for Michael, who does not know Bundy and doesn't belong to any of the so-called citizen militias who showed up at the ranch to support Bundy during the 2014 standoff.
"Will has apologized, and he realizes that you can't go around doing something like this," Waldron said. Michael pleaded guilty in April to threatening a federal law enforcement officer and interstate communication of threats. The charges carried a maximum prison sentence of 15 years, but under a plea agreement, federal prosecutors recommended probation.
Federal agents arrested Michael on May 20, 2014, following an investigation into a phone message left for the ranger a month earlier that was traced to the Emmaus Smoke Shop, where Michael worked...
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