Recipients of anti-LGBTQ letters filled with threats fearful after learning Bayport man's sentence is reduced
In one letter, Robert Fehring wrote, "We were right there. They couldn't get a shot off at you. Too many cops. Very disappointed."
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Some Long Islanders say they scared after another sentence reduction was given to a Bayport man in federal prison for making death threats.
LGBT Network President David Kilmnick say he can't believe that Robert Fehring's prison sentence has been reduced.
"I don't understand - based on what?," Kilmnick says. "You know, if they say based upon good behavior, that's because he doesn't have a computer and stamps at his disposal to send out more of these hate letters.
Kilmnick and others were the victims of anti-LGBTQ letters that sometimes contained death threats from Fehring.
Greater Sayville Chamber of Commere President Eileen Tyznar, who also was victim to Fehring's threats, says she "lost her breath" when she got an email from the Department of Justice telling her that the 74-year-old was getting some time off.
In a letter shared with News 12 Long Island by one of Fehring's victims, the Department of Justice says in part, "This notice is to inform you that Robert Fehring's release date has been changed. The inmate in now scheduled to be released on July 12, 2024."
Fehring was sentenced to 30 months in prison for sending hateful and threatening letters in the mail.
In one letter, which included photos of Kilmnick at a Pride event at Eisenhower Park, Fehring wrote, "We were right there. They couldn't get a shot off at you. Too many cops. Very disappointed."
"He took away three years of my life and my family's life where I had to look over my shoulder," Tyznar says.
Tyznar and Kilmnick caution that reduced sentences for hate crimes could serve as less of a deterrent for those committing them in the future.
