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Man who threatened congressman sentenced

Charles Habermann, 32, of Palm Springs, Calif., accused of making threatening phone calls to the office of U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, walks out of the Federal Courthouse in Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011, after pleading not guilty in U.S. District Court. (Greg Gilbert / The Seattle Times)
Associated Press
Charles Habermann, 32, of Palm Springs, Calif., accused of making threatening phone calls to the office of U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, walks out of the Federal Courthouse in Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011, after pleading not guilty in U.S. District Court. (Greg Gilbert / The Seattle Times)
SEATTLE — A California man with a multimillion-dollar trust fund has been sentenced to eight months in prison for threatening U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, and he’ll have to pay the cost of his own incarceration. Charles Turner Habermann, of Palm Springs, called the Seattle Democrat’s office last December, identified himself by name and telephone number, and proceeded to leave two obscene, four-minute-long messages threatening to kill him. U.S. District Judge James Robart sentenced him Friday, three months after the 33-year-old pleaded guilty. He fined Habermann more than $54,000. Habermann has said he was drunk when he made the calls and never meant to hurt anyone. His attorney wrote in a sentencing memo that he has a long history of drug abuse and that his parents were wealthy but divorced when he was young and never showed him love or encouragement.