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Indian origin man in Texas sentenced for threatening Sikh nonprofit workers
Bhushan Athale is sentenced to 26 months in prison and supervised release.
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Pranavi Sharma - Thu, 05, Jun 2025
- 22:47 EDT
- 23
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Stock image. / Getty Images
Bhushan Athale, a 49-year-old man from Dallas County, Texas, was sentenced to 26 months in federal prison for making violent threats against employees of a Sikh nonprofit organization in New Jersey.
U.S. District Judge Edward S. Kiel handed down the sentence in Camden federal court. Athale had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with federally protected activities through the threatened use of a dangerous weapon, and one count of transmitting an interstate threat to injure another person.
According to court documents, Athale called the main line of the Sikh civil rights group on September 17, 2022, leaving multiple voicemails over several hours. In those messages, he threatened to kill or injure staff members using a razor, describing specific and graphic acts of violence.
On March 21, 2024, he again contacted the organization and left two more threatening voicemails. These messages included “violent, sexual imagery” and expressed hatred toward both Sikhs and Muslims.
Also read: Indian-origin man charged with hate crime for threatening employees of Sikh body
“The Department of Justice has no tolerance for hate-fueled threats of violence in our country,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. “We appreciate the strong efforts of U.S. Attorney Alina Habba and her team in working with us to bring this perpetrator to justice.”
In addition to his prison term, Athale was sentenced to three years of supervised release. Judge Kiel also ordered that he not contact any of the individuals targeted in his threats.
U.S. Attorney Alina Habba for the District of New Jersey credited the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office, led by Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, for the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sara A. Aliabadi and Jason M. Richardson, with support from the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
Reacting to the sentencing, the Sikh Coalition, the advocacy group posted on X: “Sikhs remain one of the most targeted minorities & have seen increased hate from Hindu Nationalists and far right actors.”
Indian-American Bhushan Athale has been sentenced to 26 months in prison for making threats of violence against a Sikh nonprofit. Sikhs remain one of the most targeted minorities & have seen increased hate from Hindu Nationalists and far right actors. https://t.co/Lpk8EIVmCO pic.twitter.com/6aH0jUBdoK
— Sikh Coalition (@sikh_coalition) June 5, 2025
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