BILLINGS, Mont. — A white man in Montana has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for making making multiple racist phone calls to an elderly Black woman at a church who authorities say previously tried to help the man.
Joshua Leon Hiestand, 41, was sentenced on Friday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Montana.
In June, Hiestand pleaded guilty to making harassing phone calls. As part of a plea agreement, a stalking charge was dismissed, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said that for two years Hiestand made threatening and racist phone calls to a Billings church after he went there seeking help. While there, he received a gift card from an an elderly Black woman who worked at the church.
“When Hiestand, a white man, went to a Billings church looking for help, an elderly African American woman who worked there responded with kindness and assistance,” U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said in a news release. “In return and for nearly two years, Hiestand launched a barrage of harassing, hateful and racist calls and voicemails at her and the church. His racist conduct isn’t just abhorrent, it is illegal.”
More about the sentencing and racially-charged harassment.
