Bloomington man gets 2 years for threatening Obama

PEORIA — A federal judge in Peoria has sentenced a Bloomington man to nearly two years in prison for repeated threatening the life of President Barack Obama.

In passing sentence Friday on 23-year-old Phillip Porter, U.S. District Court Judge Joe McDade said he was taking into consideration the years of mental health problems that Porter has suffered.

But McDade rejected a defense attorney's request for a one-year sentence after asking Porter why he would sometimes not take his medication to control his bipolar disorder, and Porter replied that he was just being lazy.

The (Peoria) Journal Star reports Porter pleaded guilty in July to threatening the president for making calls to the Richmond, Va., office of the FBI four times on Jan. 25 saying he was going to kill Obama.