Army veteran sentenced in Hoke County mosque threat
RAEFORD, North Carolina (WTVD) -- Federal prosecutors say a North Carolina man was sentenced to eight months of home confinement after pleading guilty to charges that he threatened members of a mosque.
The U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release Thursday that 36-year-old Russell Thomas Langford was sentenced Thursday in federal court in North Carolina. The Army Reserve officer pleaded guilty in November to a felony charge for threatening mosque members in order to obstruct their free exercise of religious beliefs.
Witnesses said Langford made death threats to worshippers of the mosque in Raeford, taunted children, attempted to run over one of the community's members in his vehicle, and pointed a firearm at a worshipper. Langford also was accused of leaving bacon outside the mosque. The Quran prohibits Muslims from eating pork.
Army officials told ABC11 last year that Langford did two combat tours in Iraq in 2004 and 2008 and earned an Army Commendation Medal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
