Texas Inmate Sentenced for Presidential Threat

TYLER, Texas (AP) _ An East Texas prison inmate who confessed to threatening the life of President Barack Obama and the First Family has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison.

U.S. Attorney John Bales says 29-year-old Robert Lee Berkley Jr., received his sentence Tuesday from a federal judge in Tyler. Berkley pleaded guilty in February.

Evidence showed Berkley was imprisoned at the Hodge Unit state prison in Rusk, serving a three-year term from Harris County for prostitution — one of six felonies on his prison record — when he wrote a letter in June 2010 saying once he was released he’d be travelling to Washington to kill Obama and his family.

Prosecutors said he confirmed his plan in at least two interviews with authorities. The case was investigated by the Secret Service.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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