Man gets suspended sentence for Obama threat

updated 6:20 a.m. ET Sept. 4, 2009

STONEVILLE, North Carolina - A man has pleaded guilty to calling emergency police dispatchers to say he was going to assassinate President Barack Obama.

The Rockingham County sheriff's office says Steve Lee Stone pleaded to charges Wednesday of communicating threats, resisting a public officer and misusing the dispatch system. He was sentenced to two 45-day jail terms, which were suspended, and 18 months probation.

Police say the 44-year-old man called a dispatcher twice from his trailer about five miles south of the Virginia border in late July and said he was going to assassinate the president. He did not identify himself.

Sheriff's deputies and a Secret Service agent investigated the caller's identity. Stone was interviewed by deputies at his trailer in Stoneville.

Deputies say Stone became combative during the interview and they were forced to use a stun gun and arrest him.

More on: North Carolina | Barack Obama

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