Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a rally at Burnett Park in Fort Worth, Texas on Thursday, April 25, 2019. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
May 01, 2019 - 12:40 PM
ORLANDO, Fla. - A Florida man has been convicted of leaving threatening voicemails for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Court records show that a federal jury in Orlando found 57-year-old Robert Francis Pratersch guilty Tuesday of threatening a federal official and interstate transmission of a threat to injure. He faces up to 15 years in prison at a July 16 sentencing.
Federal prosecutors say Pratersch left three profanity-laced, anti-Semitic voicemail messages last fall at Sanders's office in Burlington, Vermont. Authorities say Pratersch threatened to behead Sanders, "ISIS-style," and videotape the execution. The remark was a reference to the Islamic State militant group.
Pratersch was indicted by a federal grand jury in February and arrested later that month in St. Cloud, Florida.
Sanders is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019