Austin Man Gets 5 Years in Prison for Threats to Kill Obama, Blow Up White House, Houston FBI

A 21-year-old Austin man was sentenced Tuesday to more than five years in federal prison for threatening to kill President Barack Obama and a U.S. attorney and destroy federal buildings, officials said. Gavin Friedman pleaded guilty to one count of making a threat against the president and three counts of mailing threatening communications. He was sentenced to 63 months, U.S. Attorney John Parker said.In January 2016, Friedman mailed a letter threatening Obama's life and said that the president would be killed so Friedman could be martyred in the name of Allah, according to case documents.In addition to the letter to the former president, Friedman also sent a letter in September 2016 threatening to destroy the FBI field office in Houston and the White House using an explosive, documents stated. He also wrote two other letters to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas threatening to kill him and that he had hired people to kidnap and kill his family, Parker said. "Threats such as these have no place in a civilized society and will be vigorously prosecuted," Parker said in a written statement.Friedman has been in custody since he was arrested in December 2016. He was arrested in Kerrville in 2013 on a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child, according to jail records.   Continue reading...