A Waterville man was sentenced to six months in prison for commenting on social media that he planned to hunt down and kill illegal immigrants.

Benjamin Brown, 47, has already served that time while awaiting action on his case on a charge of making interstate threats. Brown, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Court documents say Brown posted comments on YouTube threatening to hunt down and kill illegal immigrants, adding that no one could stop him, not even law enforcement.

FBI agents, who the release said had previously met with Brown on two other occasions to warn him about other comments he’d allegedly posted online, were notified by Google LLC’s Cyber Crime Investigation Group about threats made in 2023 by an email address traced back to Brown.

When the FBI interviewed Brown in April 2023 about his posts, he did not deny making the threats and said it is his free speech right to do so, according to an affidavit. The FBI advised Brown to read the definitions for Interstate Threatening Communications. The FBI told Brown that all statements online do not constitute free speech.

“Brown said he was only ‘venting’ and that did not mean to sound threatening,” the affidavit said. “Brown also claimed that he uses Google voice to text, which does not always correctly transcribe what he said. Brown described himself as a peaceful person.”

Brown pleaded guilty in June.

“Words matter, and when those words are violent threats, the FBI takes them seriously,” Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, said in a news release. “What Benjamin Brown did in threatening to hunt down and kill illegal immigrants was not only reprehensible but criminal, and he is now being held accountable.”

Brown underwent a psychological examination, requested by his attorney after his family raised concerns that he suffers from mental illness. Following the examination, his case continued, and he pleaded guilty. Brown was sentenced Oct. 7 in federal court in Bangor.

The FBI and the U.S. Secret Service investigated the case with assistance from the Waterville Police Department.