WASHINGTON — A man with a history of threatening Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison.
Aniruddha Sherbow, 44, was sentenced to 33 months in prison on Monday by the Honorable Reggie Walton, according to a prepared statement by Ronald Machen Jr., U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Kim Dine, chief of the United States Capitol Police, and Andrew McCabe, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office. Following his prison term, Sherbow will be placed on three years of supervised release.
During that time, Sherbow is barred from any direct or indirect contact with Gabbard. Walton also ordered Sherbow to pay $538,282 in restitution to the U.S. government, as reimbursement for security expenses incurred as a result of his threats. The judge also ordered Sherbow to get a mental health evaluation and treatment, if necessary.
Sherbow has lived in Hawaii and several other places including most recently in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Sherbow entered a no contest plea in February to two counts of making threats.
Under such a plea, a defendant is convicted, accepts responsibility and agrees the government could prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt but does not admit to the facts of the case.
Sherbow was arrested on Aug. 28, 2013, in Tijuana, Mexico, by Policia Estatal Preventiva, Baja California State Police Fugitive Unit, pursuant to a federal arrest warrant issued in the U.S. District Court for the D.C. He has been in custody ever since. In addition to New York, Sherbow has lived in California, Mexico, and Hawaii.
According to the government’s evidence, Sherbow had been harassing Gabbard since approximately February 2011, including making threats via email and telephone. The charges relate to two such threats, made in August 2013.
On Aug. 1, 2013, Sherbow left a voicemail message on Gabbard’s phone in which he threatened to kill her. Gabbard was in Washington, D.C., when she received the threatening message. On Aug. 3, 2013, Sherbow, identifying himself by name, sent an email to Gabbard and others, including the FBI. The subject and body of this e-mail also contained threats directed at Gabbard.