A Florida man has been sentenced to one year and a day in prison for his involvement in a conspiracy to threaten and intimidate employees of pro-life pregnancy centers. Caleb Freestone, along with two co-defendants, Amber Smith-Stewart and Annarella Rivera, targeted these centers due to their opposition to abortion services.
The defendants admitted to vandalizing the facilities at night, using spray paint to leave threatening messages such as “If abortions aren’t safe than niether [sic] are you” and “YOUR TIME IS UP!!”. They pleaded guilty to a civil rights conspiracy charge in June.
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“These defendants admitted that they conspired to paint threatening messages on crisis pregnancy centers, based on the defendants’ objection to the services those centers offered,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Violence and threats of violence have no place in our national discourse on reproductive health. The Justice Department is committed to protecting the right to access reproductive health care and prosecuting anyone who interferes with that right.”
“These defendants conspired to threaten and intimidate providers offering reproductive health care,” said U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg for the Middle District of Florida. “Federal law protects these providers and those who seek their services. My office will continue its work to protect access to reproductive health care and federally prosecute those interfering with that right.”
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Smith-Stewart and Rivera received lighter sentences of 30 days in prison and 60 days in home detention.
The case was investigated by the FBI Tampa Field Office with assistance from the Miami Police Department.
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