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COURTESY HPD
Aniruddha Dasa Sherbow is seen in this March 2011 mugshot. Authorities in the District of Columbia say they've arrested Sherbow for making threats against Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
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WASHINGTON » A man prosecutors said had a history of threatening U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison.
Prosecutors said Monday that 44-year-old Aniruddha Sherbow, who has lived in Hawaii and several other places, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to 33 months. 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 also was ordered to pay nearly $540,000 in restitution to the U.S. government for security expenses incurred as a result of his threats.
Sherbow’s attorney said Sherbow has severe mental health problems that are at the root of his conduct.
The criminal complaint against Sherbow unsealed in August 2013 said he was arrested after threatening Gabbard and leaving a vulgar tirade on her cellphone voicemail a day before he sent a mass email vowing to decapitate her.
In a court document, a U.S. Capitol Police investigator said Sherbow left a message on the congresswoman’s cellphone on Aug. 1, 2013, threatening to "mash" her face to a "pulp" and kill her. Gabbard was able to identify Sherbow’s voice because of previous interactions, the affidavit said.
Vulgar and threatening phone calls from Sherbow dated to 2011 when Gabbard was serving on the Honolulu City Council, and Gabbard reported he had contacted her more than 35 times from Feb. 3 to 23.
Gabbard was elected to Congress in 2012 as one of the first two female combat veterans elected to that body. She is the first Hindu and first female of Samoan ancestry to serve in Congress. She is still active with the Hawaii Army National Guard.