A Benson man who sent a mass email this summer that multiple recipients reported to police for its threatening language and reference to a school shooter will spend several years on intensive supervised probation.
Alan David Amirault must serve four years of probation after being recently convicted of attempting to commit an act of terrorism, a Class 4 felony. He could still end up in prison if he violates any conditions of the probation order, according to court records.
Amirault, 50, is a registered sex offender due to an unspecified incident more than 20 years ago. He was arrested back on July 15, just hours after sending a disturbing email to a number of Arizona lawmakers and local politicians under the subject line of “I Could Have Been a School Shooter.”
The Cochise County Attorney’s Office negotiated a plea deal with Amirault’s attorney, with the agreement leaving sentencing to the discretion of Judge Laura Cardinal. The judge’s options included imposing a prison term of 1 to 3.75 years, sending Amirault to jail for less than 1 year, or place him on probation for up to five years.
Terisha Driggs, the prosecutor, advocated for incarceration, as did the probation department. Defense attorney Ashlea Allred argued for the probation option, explaining that the July 15 email was part of Amirault’s long-running effort to draw attention to possible reforms of the state’s sex offender registration law.
She noted Amirault attached law review articles and reports to the email, on which he also openly included his name, home address, and phone number.
But when Benson Sgt. Brian Williams arrested Amirault, his report notes Amirault used an email account which includes street lingo for a cop killer as part of the address. He also included text which could be easily construed as forewarning an attack.
“I do not like being ignored, so here comes phase 2,” Amirault wrote. “Hope you’re ready for it.”
Allred argued her client’s only intent was to provoke someone to reply to his missive, or as Amirault told Williams during an interview, that “his message had been heard.” Despite the purported intent, the attorney acknowledged Amirault crossed a line.
“The current climate in which we live allows no room for words such as what Alan wrote to be thrown carelessly out,” Allred told the judge. “For this, Alan is deeply regretful for his actions.”
As to the email reference to “Phase 2,” the probation department told Cardinal that Amirault explained he received no response to an earlier email and simply planned to use multiple email accounts to continue his outreach effort.
“The defendant said he had not considered the subject line as a threat and he thought he would maybe be hit with a harassment charge at the most, not terrorism,” the probation presentence report noted. “The defendant said that after he sent the email, he went back to playing video games with his son.”
About 2.5 hours later, police arrived at Amirault’s residence and took him into custody. He remained in jail after his arrest, unable to post bail, until sentencing on Oct. 31.
“The defendant would like the Court to know that he is deeply heartbroken,” the probation report noted, adding that Amirault said he had “sought only to remedy an injustice.”
Those sentiments aside, the probation department urged Cardinal to incarcerate Amirault for some period longer than the 108 days he spent in jail. It is the same position taken by Driggs, the prosecutor.
Although the judge opted for intensive probation in lieu of prison, Driggs did not want Amirault or the public to think the sentence in anyway lessened the seriousness of Amirault’s conduct or the impact the email had on recipients.
Driggs also praised the police officers who responded so quickly after the email was reported.
“Any threat of violence directed toward a school needs to be taken seriously and the Benson Police Department acted expeditiously in identifying and apprehending the Defendant in this matter,” Driggs said.