Bush threats spawn jail termPurdue scholar is sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison
By Times Staff | Posted: Saturday, December 12, 2009 12:00 am | 1 Comment
HAMMOND | An Indian man who was in America to study and teach at Purdue University will be imprisoned and likely expelled from the country for posting graphic death threats against former President George W. Bush.
Vikram Buddhi, 38, who has fired two American attorneys and was representing himself in court Friday before U.S. District Judge James Moody, received a 57-month prison term. The judge placed Buddhi on three years of court supervision at the end of his prison sentence, although the government indicated it will seek to deport him after his release.
The case has received attention from the Indian media and on the Internet by advocates for Buddhi who claim he has been unjustly imprisoned for exercising free speech.
Buddhi denies he committed any crime in posting
profane exhortations for people to kill and mutilate Bush, rape former first lady Laura Bush and harm others as part of a debate about the Iraq war on Yahoo.com message boards. He has been in federal custody the last two years.
Jurors convicted Buddhi of 11 counts of using the Internet to threaten violence against the Bush family and administration.
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