Man who threatened congressman ordered to write 2 research papers

SEATTLE — A federal judge in Seattle has ordered a man who threatened a congressman to serve two months in jail — and to write two research reports.

Japser Bell repeatedly called the office of longtime U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott last April, at one point threatening to cut out the lawmaker's tongue. Prosecutors said he was upset about how delegates were being allocated in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Seattle U.S. Attorney's Office says U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik ordered the 28-year-old to perform 240 hours of community service on behalf of AIDS patients and the poor — two causes McDermott has championed.

Bell also must produce two reports, one on McDermott's long career and another on a book about black soldiers who were wrongfully convicted of killing an Italian prisoner of war at what was then Fort Lawton during World War II. The book, "On American Soil" by Jack Hamann, prompted McDermott to sponsor legislation that led to the soldiers' exoneration.