A Perry Hall man was convicted and sentenced to prison Tuesday for threatening to “execute” Baltimore County Councilman David Marks in voicemails.

District Judge Marsha L. Russell ordered David Charles Rohrs to serve three years, with all but 18 months suspended, saying the crime caused Marks and his family “terrible fear.”

“He went through a lot because of those calls,” Russell said.

Rohrs, 47, has a history of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other mental health disorders, according to court records. A judge found him competent to stand trial in March.

He pleaded not guilty but agreed to a statement of facts on a misdemeanor charge of threatening a local official, a move that allowed him to acknowledge key evidence without admitting guilt.

As part of his sentence, Rohrs will receive credit for 148 days already served. He has been held without bond in the Baltimore County Detention Center since his arrest in November, first on a mental health tier, then in general population since January.

Upon his release, Rohrs will serve three years of supervised probation — during which he cannot contact Marks, his family or his staff — and must comply with any recommended mental health evaluation or treatment.

Marks observed Tuesday’s hearing from the front row of the courtroom gallery. In a victim impact statement, he said the threats created fear at the public school where he teaches and were especially alarming because they occurred while he had an infant daughter.

“This has caused considerable stress on me and my family,” the Upper Falls Republican said.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Apoorva Budin read transcripts of two threatening voicemails Rohrs left at Marks’ Towson office late last year.

In one, Rohrs said, “My goal is to have you executed.”

In the other, “You need to be waterboarded.”

In one of the messages, Rohrs threatened to kill the president of his homeowners association, claimed police in White Marsh retaliated against him, and made several comments related to artificial intelligence, according to court records.

Rohrs had multiple previous encounters with law enforcement for threatening and harassing behavior against businesses and neighbors, prosecutors said. He was convicted in April 2025 for disturbing the peace in his Baltimore County neighborhood, which resulted in a 30-day prison sentence.

Around the time he threatened Marks, Rohrs made “concerning remarks” to staff at a Travelers Insurance office in Cockeysville and left a voicemail yelling and cursing at employees over the handling of an insurance claim, prosecutors said. He was not charged in those incidents.

When police served a warrant in the case involving Marks, Rohrs barricaded himself inside his home on Dallington Court for about five hours. He threw objects at responding drones before officers forcibly removed him, according to court records.

He was charged with three misdemeanors related to threatening, harassing and stalking Marks. The harassment and stalking charges were placed on the stet docket, meaning they may be reopened if he does not comply with the terms of his sentence.

The sentence issued Tuesday matched what prosecutors in the case were seeking. Rohrs’ defense attorney, Samuel A. Seidler, had asked for no additional jail time.

Though Seidler acknowledged the voicemails were “very aggressive,” he argued Rohrs had no intention of acting on his threats, noting that he had never met Marks or been to his office and that a search of his residence found no weapons.

But Russell felt incarceration was warranted, saying threats “take a real toll on a person.”

“You don’t know what someone might actually carry out,” the judge said.

Rohrs attended the hearing in an orange prison jumpsuit, his hands cuffed in front of him. Standing next to his attorney, he addressed the court and expressed remorse.

“I wish I had handled this situation differently or better,” said Rohrs, who owns a sole proprietorship and works in property renovation and web design. “I feel horrible about this.”

Concluding his brief remarks, he added, “I also wish the councilman well.”

Marks said in an interview that in his 15 years as an elected official, he had never faced threats like the kind he received from Rohrs.

“Mr. Rohrs is a threat to my family and the community,” Marks said. “I’m glad that I’ll never have to see him again.”