PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A Pike County man has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison, after he pleaded guilty to threatening an FBI agent.

Gabriel Howell, 46, of Meta, pleaded guilty back in January to a single count of threatening to assault the agent with the intent of intimidating him.

Court records indicate Howell had gone to the agent’s home in December of 2023, saying he had information about “murder and corruption” to report. However, the agent was on leave at the time, so he gave him the FBI’s number to make his report.

The following March, Howell vandalized the agent’s mailbox and left a cryptic note which the agent viewed as a threat. The following month, Howell showed up at the agent’s home at 2:30 in the morning, at which time he was arrested.

In a court filing, Howell’s attorney said his client had previously viewed the agent as a friend and never meant to cause him any harm. However, he said that Howell had become convinced that his teenage daughters were being sexually abused by adult men, and he was upset the agent hadn’t acted on his report.

Last week, a judge sentenced Howell to 21 months in prison, which is the minimum sentence he faced under the guidelines. He has already spent 13 months in jail since his arrest last April.

Howell is currently being held in the Woodford County Detention Center.