Idaho man sentenced to 4 years for harassing, stalking strangers who criticized his parking

An Idaho man has been sentenced to more than four years in prison after pleading guilty to what prosecutors called a "crusade of harassment" against strangers, sparked by minor parking disputes, the Idaho Statesman reported.

Frank Abbot Sweeney, 76, was sentenced Dec. 13 to 51 months on each of six counts of stalking to be served concurrently, KTVB reported.

The harassment began after a woman in a post office parking lot confronted Sweeney for parking in a handicapped space without a handicapped tag on his vehicle, the Statesman reported.

According to KTVB, Sweeney then hired a private investigator to locate the woman and proceeded to bombard her with threatening postcards and attempted character assassination in her community.

The harassment lasted three years.

Specifically, the Statesman reported, the flood of harassing postcards included references to Adolf Hitler, racial slurs, sexually explicit language and personal insults. He then signed the correspondence "Carson Wells," a fictional hit man from the movie "No Country for Old Men."

According to the newspaper, Sweeney also:

• Sent postcards to the victim’s neighbors claiming falsely she is a sex offender and pedophile;

• Signed the victim’s name to a hate-filled postcard full of racial slurs sent to the Idaho Black History Museum; and

• Signed postcards sent to incarcerated murderers, including at least one serial killer, with the victim’s name.