Florida man jailed for threatening to behead Bernie Sanders

Kissimmee resident sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for targeting Vermont senator with anti-Semitic, profanity-laced voicemails

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during an American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Public Service Forum in Las Vegas, August 3, 2019. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during an American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Public Service Forum in Las Vegas, August 3, 2019. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

A Florida man who left threatening voicemail messages at the Vermont office of Senator Bernie Sanders was sentenced to prison last week.

The three profanity-laced messages sent to the Burlington office last September included anti-Semitic invective and a threat to behead the Democratic presidential candidate “ISIS-style,” according to court documents and a statement from the US Justice Department.

Robert Pratersch, 58, of Kissimmee, Florida, was sentenced Friday to 15 months in federal prison for threatening a federal official and interstate transmission of a threat to injure.

He had been found guilty by a federal jury in April.

Pratersch also reportedly sent Sanders a video of an execution, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

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