Prosecutors appeal bond ruling in SIU threat case

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - Federal prosecutors are appealing a Chicago judge's ruling to release pending trial a man accused of mailing threats of rapes, bombings and beheadings to Southern Illinois University's Carbondale campus.

Magistrate Judge Susan Cox on Wednesday allowed 21-year-old Derrick Burns' release but stayed it while prosecutors appealed. The government's documents pressing for Burns to remain jailed as a potential threat are sealed. The judge says if her decision stands Burns would be released into his aunt's care and has to wear an electronic monitor.

Burns is charged with eight felonies linked to what investigators say were threatening mailings sent over a yearlong span in 2012 and last year.

The FBI says most of the threatening letters suggested SIU would be targeted.