Olympia man sentenced for racially motivated threats against federal employee

TACOMA, Wash. — A 42-year-old Thurston County man was sentenced to almost two and a half years in prison for threatening and using racial slurs towards a Black federal employee at the Social Security office in Olympia.

U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman announced that Steven L. Veresto had been sentenced to 30 months at the U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Tuesday, June 25, after being initially charged in July 2023. At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle said, “Your criminal history shows a disrespect for the law.”

According to records filed in the case, Veres and a companion went to the Olympia Social Security Administration (SSA) office seeking a replacement Social Security card on February 16, 2023. When a Black SSA employee told Veres that he lacked the proper paperwork to obtain a new Social Security card, Veres reportedly became irate, yelling racial slurs and threatening to assault and, according to witnesses, even kill the worker.

“This defendant not only used racial slurs in this case, investigators discovered his use of racial slurs in social media messages back in 2020 when he was threatening to find and assault or kill a different Black victim,” said U.S. Attorney Gorman. “Such conduct is a window into his hate-filled mindset that leads to this prison sentence today.”

Veres pleaded guilty in April 2024 to influencing a federal official by threat. The U.S. District Court also imposed a hate crimes sentencing enhancement, finding that Veres targeted the victim because of the victim’s perceived race or color. Under the terms of the plea agreement, both sides asked for a sentence of 30 months in prison. As part of the plea agreement, Grays Harbor County will dismiss an unrelated prosecution against Veres for attempting to elude a police officer.

Prosecutors noted that Veres has an extensive history of criminal convictions, including possession of stolen property and vehicles, forgery, harassment (domestic violence), malicious mischief, methamphetamine possession with intent to distribute, obstruction, and identity theft.

Prosecutors also wrote in their sentencing memo that Veres had a poor record of supervision, having made himself unavailable for supervision on 22 occasions and having been returned to custody 26 times from the mid-2000s until now.

Veres will be under federal supervision for three years following his prison term.

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