View full sizeDarryl SwansonAn apologetic 46-year-old Southeast Portland man pleaded guilty on Thursday to threatening the life of President Obama.
Darryl James Swanson made a long series of phone calls to journalists and government officials early last year, telling The Oregonian in one of the 25 calls he placed to the newspaper that the U.S. government owed him "trillions" of dollars.
His calls took a more serious turn on May 2, 2011, according to federal court records, when he phoned the Seattle bureau of The Associated Press.
"I don't know which part of this story you want to go with," Swanson was quoted as saying. "... I may have to get in touch with al-Qaida and get a hold of at least one, possibly two good working machine guns and blast my way into the White House leaving the president and the first lady in caskets full of blood."
A Secret Service agent paid Swanson a visit the following day, warning him not to make threatening calls. But the calls persisted, and grew to include threats against federal prosecutors, according to government accounts. Swanson was arrested in July 2011.
"I was in a terrible mental state at that time," Swanson told U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown at Thursday's hearing. "I do apologize with all my heart."
Swanson, who acknowledged he is in treatment for mental illness, pleaded guilty to one count of threatening the president of the United States, a charge that carries a potential punishment of up to five years imprisonment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen F. Peifer said he will recommend that Swanson serve 18 months in prison at his Dec. 12 sentencing. Swanson's lawyer, Ellen C. Pitcher, is expected to argue for less than 12 months.
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