4 Years for California Man Who Threatened Bush, Others

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

4 years for Calif. man who threatened Bush, others

2 hours ago
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A nuclear engineer from California has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for sending threatening letters to President Bush, first lady Laura Bush and others.
Prosecutors say Michael Lee Braun mailed nearly 60 letters over a five-year period after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Vice President Dick Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were also targets.
Most contained a white powder the letters described as poison. It was actually baking soda.

The 53-year-old Braun was arrested in 2006. He was an engineer at the now-closed Rancho Seco nuclear power plant south of Sacramento.
He was sentenced Friday to four years and three months in prison. He also must pay $54,000 in fines and damages.

Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iH3Chahasv4PeOdGL8v2H6Vdh2BAD91E49HG0

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[rpannier]

1. That was really stupid

Everyone knows, or should know, you send threatening letters to federal officials you go to jail.

The white powder made what he did even stupider.

NO matter what anyone thinks about DUH-bya, this guy should be in jail.

[Ian David]

4. Agreed. I'm just surprised they caught him so quickly. Only five years.

At this rate, we should catch Osama Bin Forgotten sometime right after the sun goes nova.

And New Orleans will be re-built right before The Big Crunch.

[Ian David]

2. It took them 60 letters and five years to catch the guy? Heckuva job! n/t

[rpannier]

3. Still faster than it's taken them to bring "Osama in Dead or Alive." nt

[AuntPatsy]

5. Again proof our country does not care about it's citizens, its more than obvious this man needs

mental care not prison time, five years? Okay, than he gets out and his obvious illness finds another target? Perfect and so america these days.

[Indenturedebtor]

12. Seriously though this guy needs medication and therapy n/t

[jaksavage]

20. We all need mental care

After this nightmare of a president.

[otherlander]

21. The mental care would probably be more punishing than jail.

So, I say they sentenced him to the lesser of two evils.

[melody]

6. They can't find the guys who sent out the anthrax but tracked down the jerk who sent baking soda?

Oy.

[JI7]

7. that's because the one that mailed Anthrax was a Right Winger that targeted "liberals"

or those percieved as having liberal bias at the time.

[melody]

8. Karl with a chemistry set, in my opinion

I was just making the point.

[Tutonic]

9. Ah Come On!

Some drunkin lady runs over and kills her mom and gets sprung for $3,000 and this guy mails baking soda to Laura Bush and gets four years? I would think that he is less of a threat--they know where he lives now and that he likes to write letters. Maybe house arrest for ninety days and a stern warning against writing letters to the President would have sufficed. I just think that four years in the case of a nut job president might be excessive.

[NYC Liberal]

10. Why haven't they investigated Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson

or any of the other right-wing nutjobs who have threatened the lives of (Democratic) politicians?

[balantz]

11. Too bad he only used baking soda n/t

[superconnected]

15. Good one!

[Arctic Dave]

19. Instead of five years they should give him

1000 unobstructed yards and a high powered rifle.

[bean fidhleir]

13. It's a VERY SERIOUS CRIME to even pretend to threaten the king or nobility

No matter how often or how badly they screw us over, no matter whether they sell their office, violate the Constitution, commit crimes against humanity, destroy our lives, whatever - our only recourse is to not vote for them in the next election. If we're still alive. And if we're allowed to vote.

Kings and nobles are special people far above us in importance and worth, and we peasants must never be allowed to forget that.

[rasputin1952]

14. It appears to me this was not the sharpest tool in the box...

Perhaps psychiatric treatment might have been a better option.

[scarface2004]

16. what?? should be given medal of freedom!!!

it s tony scalia who needs to be locked up!

[Solly Mack]

17. oh now..it was just a little baking soda to go with the coke

Bush knows that

[LeftyMom]

18. And that nutjob had access to the nuke plant.

Reason 2,743 why we shut that fucker down before it killed us all.