Man gets 5 years for threatening to bomb Indiana courthouse

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - A man who threatened to bomb a northwestern Indiana courthouse, prompting the building's evacuation, has been sentenced to five years in prison.

A special judge sentenced 48-year-old Michael Battering on Friday after detailing the lengthy criminal history he had amassed before he threatened to bomb the Tippecanoe County Courthouse in Lafayette.

Battering pleaded guilty last month to intimidation and false informing. The Journal & Courier reports he also pleaded guilty to fraud for using a stolen credit card to buy the cellphone he used to make the threat.

Battering claimed he was high on meth and heroin when he called in the April 11 bomb threat, spurring the courthouse's evacuation. Police found no bombs in the building.

Battering told the court he's 'Å“seriously sorry for upsetting everybody's lives that day."

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Information from: Journal and Courier, http://www.jconline.com