A Macomb County man has been handed a 10-month prison sentence after issuing online threats to assassinate Governor Gretchen Whitmer, as well as threatening to “hunt down” and “target for assassination” DTE Energy shareholders, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. Steven Conway, 40, of Center Line, pled guilty to two counts of making interstate threats, which were compounded by a history of similar offenses holding a prior conviction for threats made against a judge and police officers.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. White imposed the sentence, which will be followed by a two-year term of supervised release. In making his decision, White looked at Conway’s admission of guilt and the serious nature of his actions, which sought to arguably undermine the safety and security of both public servants and private citizens alike. Conway’s threats came via both an online dating website, where he claimed Governor Whitmer was “marked for assassination,” and through a disturbing phone call made to a DTE Energy call center.
“Threats of political violence and retribution are an attack on the rule of law. We will protect our public servants and the regular citizens who make our country free and prosperous,” U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon was quoted as saying in the published announcement…