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Man pleads guilty to threatening federal judge

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Editor's note: This story has been updated with sentencing information.

A man who authorities said threatened a federal judge pleaded guilty to a charge of mailing threatening communications and was sentenced to more than nine years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Janes Magnus-Stinson sentenced Michael F. Disch, 43, to 110 months, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Joe Hogsett said Tuesday.

Disch pleaded guilty to charges that he sent a letter in 2009 to U.S. Southern District of Indiana Judge Larry McKinney in Terre Haute that included a white powder and the instructions, “smell this and die.” Disch also wrote that he would pay someone to find where McKinney lived and would have him and members of his family killed.

Disch was arrested after an investigation by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

“This office made a commitment last year to do all within our power to ensure the safety of all those who work in or around the federal prison system,” Hogsett said. “Hoax cases such as this one also highlight the importance of remaining ever-vigilant of the very real threat that terrorism poses.”

Magnus-Stinson also imposed special conditions of probation to include participation in a substance abuse treatment program as directed by the probation officer.
 

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  1. vagueness cannot challenged, so let's write all laws vaguely and throw the constitution out the window.Even if the court is operating under a particular law, if they don't it they will change it to their liking. What a joke!!!

  2. Two convictions becomes one conviction with exactly the same sentence, only it is not clear wheter or not that sentence will be 18 months, 120 months or 138 months. Actually if the guns were in a home, whether or not they were his, he is protected under the 2nd amendment. Jurors need to learn the law and the constitution before judging others. The cour5ts need to do this as well.

  3. With all due respect, Rick, I think you probably would be making a mistake by going to law school. The job market for attorneys is so saturated, you may well find yourself unemployed and with a lot of debt. You mention law would be a good supplement to your skills. True. But employers unfortunately don't value that. You will find that a law degree may well pigeonhole you into an attorney slot and limit career options. If you have a good job now I would hold onto that. As an attorney, you may well end up making less with the aforementioned debt.

  4. Jack, I was only responding to bill's comment of tying everybody in government together. I agree with you though, it takes one bad apple to ruin the bunch.. As in any profession. What's truly unfair is when somebody violates someone's trust and takes complete advantage of someone

  5. John’s comment is unfair. The majority of attorneys can be trusted. Unfortunately, all it takes is one greedy, unscrupulous, immoral attorney to jade the public.

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