ST. PAUL, Minn. — A 53-year-old Minneapolis man who purportedly was drunk when he left a voicemail threatening to kill a congresswoman last year has been sentenced to five months in federal prison.

Michael Paul Lewis called the office of the congresswoman last March, identified himself and then said, “I’m going to fly to Washington, D.C. I’m gonna find that (expletive),” according to court records, which do not disclose the target of his threat. “I’m going to (expletive) murder her ... and I’m not even joking.”

It was also unclear whether the member was from Minnesota. There were seven women in the state’s congressional delegation at the time of the March 2025 threat: Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith as well as Reps. Betty McCollum, Angie Craig, Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison and Michelle Fischbach. Fischbach is a Republican; the others are Democrats.

Lewis was arrested and indicted in U.S. District Court of Minnesota on charges of threatening to murder a federal official and interstate transmission of a threat to injure a person. He pleaded guilty to the threat charge in September.

The prison term handed down by Judge Jerry Blackwell in St. Paul includes three months of home detention as part of one year of supervised release. Lewis will begin serving the sentence May 12.

‘Abhorrent behavior’

Lewis said that he was intoxicated when he left the voicemail, Assistant U.S. Attorney LeeAnn Bell wrote in a December sentencing memo, which added “it was ultimately determined that Mr. Lewis was not actually planning to travel to Washington to carry out his threat.”

“It seems clear, that Mr. Lewis’ addiction to alcohol was a primary contributing factor in engaging in this abhorrent behavior,” Bell wrote.

Nevertheless, the prosecutor continued, the “harms reach far beyond this single case. When even one person threatens our public officials, it normalizes that behavior, it delegitimizes the lawful and necessary criticisms made by others, it decreases that likelihood that our elected officials will engage with the tough questions facing our country for fear of harm, and ultimately it contributes to a culture where threats escalate to violence.”

Prosecutors on Wednesday asked the judge for the five-month prison term, while also seeking five months of home detention and two years of supervised release.

Lewis’ attorney Nicole Kettwick, who asked for a probationary sentence, wrote in her December sentencing memo that for much of his life, he “quietly carried the weight of depression, anxiety, shame, isolation and untreated addiction.”

Kettwick wrote that the presentence investigation report for Lewis, who is gay, “correctly notes that Mr. Lewis ‘likely saw something covered on the news or posted on social media regarding (the victim’s) positions on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) issues.’ ”

Lewis has changed since the voicemail, according to Kettwick. She said he has completed intensive treatment to address both his alcohol addiction and underlying mental health conditions.

Kettwick wrote that Lewis “now realizes he was part of the problem in furthering a climate of political violence, and he feels a degree of responsibility for that climate. He notes that he remains passionate about LGBTQ rights but is now using ‘more appropriate channels and not becoming consumed by anger.’ ”

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