Hardy Carroll Lloyd, 45, of West Virginia pleaded guilty on Tuesday of obstruction of the due administration of justice.
The self-proclaimed “reverend” of his own white supremacist group admitted in court that he made online threats to jurors and witnesses in the trial of Robert Bowers, 50, the convicted murderer of 11 Jewish worshippers at the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27, 2018.
Bowers is currently imprisoned in the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., after a jury agreed unanimously in August to his receiving the death penalty.
As part of his plea agreement, Lloyd had to acknowledge that he chose his victims based on actual or perceived Jewish religion and to accept a prison sentence of six years and six months.
“It is absolutely reprehensible that the defendant threatened witnesses and jurors in the Tree of Life case, a tragedy that claimed innocent lives and emotionally scarred many in the Jewish community,” FBI director Christopher Wray stated in a U.S. Department of Justice release. “The FBI will not tolerate the intimidation of citizens participating in our criminal justice system, and we will work with our partners to hold legally accountable anyone who threatens or carries out acts of violence against them.”
