A Texas woman involved in the Capitol riot, who made threats against a federal judge and left a racist message for a U.S. Representative, is now facing prison time. Her case was initially tied to former President Donald Trump’s alleged involvement in the January 6 Capitol attack, but it has since been dismissed.

Abigail Jo Shry, aged 45, has been sentenced to 27 months in prison, according to court documents. During her sentencing, Shry appeared shocked, as reported by CBS News. She expressed an unfounded worry about her 17-year-old son being drafted into a war because of her actions, despite the military draft ending decades ago.

Shry entered a guilty plea in November 2024 to charges of using interstate communications to threaten another person.

On August 5, 2023, Shry made a call to the office of U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who was presiding over Trump’s January 6 case in Washington, D.C. According to a federal complaint, she left a voicemail starting with a racial slur and threatened not only those pursuing legal action against Trump but also all Democrats and LGBTQ individuals in Washington, D.C. She included a threat against Democratic U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who had passed away the previous year.

Authorities were able to locate Shry within days using her cell phone, leading them to her residence in Alvin, near Houston. She confessed to leaving the threatening message on Judge Chutkan’s voicemail but claimed she did not plan to act on her threats in Washington, D.C., or Houston. However, she ominously suggested that if Rep. Lee came to Alvin, it would be a cause for concern. Police subsequently arrested her.

• “You are in our sights, we want to kill you.”
• “If Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly, b—.”
• “You will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it.”

Since she used her cellphone, Department of Homeland Security agents easily tracked her to her home in Alvin, which is the Houston area, a couple of days after the call. Shry admitted to leaving the message on Chutkan’s voicemail. She said she had no intention of traveling to Washington, D.C., or Houston to carry out any of her threats. But she said if Lee would travel to Alvin, then “we need to worry.” Cops then took her into custody.

During her plea hearing, she reportedly said she thought the statements she made in the message were protected by the First Amendment.

“She was wrong, and today’s plea demonstrates how the Southern District of Texas has no patience for those who target and threaten public servants — ignorance of the Constitution notwithstanding,” Alamdar S. Hamdani, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said in a statement at the time of her pleading.

As Law&Crime previously reported, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sam S. Sheldon noted at a bond hearing after her arrest that Shry has prior violations of probations, parole, or supervised release and said the defendant has been charged four times in a year for “similar conduct.”

Brazoria County court records show that Shry pleaded guilty in September 2022 to criminal mischief, resisting arrest, and interfering with public duties.

“On September 20, 2022, she was convicted in two separate cases (misdemeanor resisting arrest and misdemeanor criminal mischief) and sentenced to 30 days imprisonment. Recently, on July 11, 2023, she was charged with misdemeanor threat causing fear of imminent serious bodily injury. It is alleged that she committed the instant offense while on bond for the July 11 incident, less than one month after it occurred,” the magistrate judge wrote.

The judge said that Shry, a mother of two, “suffers from major depression and has a long history of substance abuse” and lives with her boyfriend, who is “presently charged with a family assault against her.”

Shry’s father testified that his daughter has a drinking and news consumption problem.

“Mr. Shry believes that Defendant is a non-violent alcoholic. He testified that she sits on her couch daily watching the news while drinking too many beers. She then becomes agitated by the news and starts calling people and threatening them,” the court recounted Mark Shry’s testimony. “Mr. Shry stated that his daughter never leaves her residence and therefore would not act upon her threats.”

Shry and her roughly 1,600 fellow rioters received a pardon from Trump for their roles in the Capitol attack.