AL.com – by Kent FaulkBIRMINGHAM, Alabama – A Birmingham man was sentenced this morning to 12 months in prison for his guilty plea to a charge of threatening the life of President Barack Obama through a Twitter message.
U.S. District Court Judge Lynwood Smith also ordered that Jarvis M. Britton serve three years under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office after his release, , according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.. Today’s hearing was held in Huntsville.
Prosecutors had recommended a 12-month sentence in a memorandum to the judge this week.
Britton’s attorney, federal public defender Rick Burgess, said Britton will be given credit for the time he has already served in prison. Britton has been in jail since September so he has about three more months to serve.
Burgess said that during the hearing Britton acknowledged that what he did was wrong and apologized to the court. “He (Britton) looks forward to getting the matter behind him,” he said.
Britton had pleaded guilty on March 18 to tweeting the threat. That plea had been a reversal from a February hearing in which he had told Smith he had been threatening the life of the president of Syria.
Britton had been indicted by a federal grand jury for knowingly threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict bodily harm on the president by tweeting the message, “Let’s kill the president. F.E.A.R.,” on Sept. 14.
At the March hearing the judge asked Britton if what he said at the first plea hearing was true. Britton said it was not true, and that he was talking about killing President Barack Obama.
Smith asked Britton what he meant by F.E.A.R. “F… everyone and run,” Britton replied.
Britton has been taking drugs for bi-polar disorder, including lithium. He had been ruled competent to stand trial prior to his first plea hearing.
Britton was arrested Sept. 21 and charged by criminal complaint for threatening the president. The arrest came after the tweeted a threat, despite having been warned by a Secret Service agent in June about threatening tweets aimed at President Obama.
According to a Secret Service agent’s affidavit, Britton’s June 28 tweet stated “Free speech? Really? Let’s test this! Let’s kill the president” and later “I’m going to finish this, if they get me, they get me! #ohwell. I think we could get the president with cyanide. #MakeItSlow.”
A June 29 tweet stated “Barack Obama, I wish you were DEAD!,” according to the affidavit.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph P. Montminy and Daniel J. Fortune prosecuted the case.
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/06/birmingham_man_who_tweeted_thr.html
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