Crime & Safety

Report: Serial Sex Offender Sentenced to 37 Years for Witness Intimidation in Gaithersburg

Montgomery Village resident Michael Eugene Donati was previously convicted of five sexual offenses between 1979 and 1999, according to ABC7.

A Montgomery Village musician who was convicted of five sex offenses over a 20-year span was sentenced Friday in Montgomery County court to 37 years in prison for intimidating witnesses in a minor drug case, ABC 7 reported.

Michael Eugene Donati was using fake email addresses to send violent threats and ethnic slurs to teenagers and their parents, according to the report.

Donati was busted for trying to sell a small bag of marijuana at a local bar, ABC7 reported.

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Donati was convicted of rape twice in Montana, his home state, according to the report.

Gaithersburg residents told ABC 7 they feared for their lives. One woman, who received several threats from Donati, was too afraid to reveal her identity.

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"I told my neighbors about him, I said keep an eye out, this is the kind of car he drives," she said to ABC7. "We have a security system at out home and at work. We let everybody know he wasn't allowed in our office. We're afraid of him."

The sentence was not for drug charges, only the threatening emails.


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