Muslim man gets 11.5 years for threatening South Park writers after they depicted the Prophet Mohammad in a bear suit

A Muslim convert from New York has been sentenced to 11-1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to threatening the writers of the satirical South Park television show for their depiction of the Prophet Mohammad among other charges.



Jesse Curtis Morton, 33, of Brooklyn, also known as Younus Abdullah Muhammed, ran a website that encouraged Muslims to engage in violence against accused enemies of Islam.



After one South Park episode pictured Mohammad disguised in a bear suit, the home addresses of the show's creators were posted on that page and threatening messages were sent.

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Locked up: Younus Abdullah Muhammad, aka Jesse Curtis Morton, seen in 2010, has been sentenced to 11-1/2 years in prison after threatening the writers of South Park

The sentence was handed down in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, the U.S. Justice Department said and includes a three years' probation after his prison term.



Morton pleaded guilty in February to making threatening communications, using the Internet to put others in fear and using his position as leader of the Revolution Muslim organization's Internet sites to conspire to commit murder.



'Jesse Morton sought to inspire Muslims to engage in terrorism by providing doctrinal justification for violence against civilians in the name of Islam,' U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride said.

'His crimes not only put people's lives forever in danger, but they also chilled free expression out of fear of retaliation by violent terrorists,' MacBride said in a statement.



Threatened: The home addresses of Matt Stone (left) and Trey Parker (right), pictured last fall, were posted by Morton on his extremist website

Help: The website, pictured, led to the arrest of a second conspirator Zachary Chesser, who also pleaded guilty to sending threatening messages to the show's writers



He had worked on website postings with Zachary Chesser of Virginia, who pleaded guilty in October of 2010 to sending threatening communications to the 'South Park' writers and to other charges.



Morton was arrested in Rabat, Morocco, last year and brought back to the United States, where he pleaded guilty. He had faced a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.



Morton admitted he helped Chesser in taking repeated steps in April of 2010 to encourage violent extremists to attack the 'South Park' writers for the episode on the cable channel Comedy Central that featured the bear suit.

Always controversial: South Park character Eric Cartman is seen in one episode with former Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden

'Is that OK to show?' a character in the South Park episode hesitantly reacts to a stick figure representing the prophet on a sheet of paper.

'I don't know. I guess we'll see,' a second responds.

Most Muslims consider any depiction of the founder of Islam as offensive.

Morton and Chesser posted where the writers resided and encouraged online readers to 'pay them a visit,' according to court documents.

Morton worked with Chesser to draft a message for the website about the South Park threats and they posted a final version of the statement on various extremist online forums.

Outrage: Most Muslims consider any depiction of the founder of Islam as offensive, enraging Morton by his drawn image in a bear suit

Morton also conspired with Chesser and others to solicit the murder of an artist tied to the 'Everyone Draw Mohammad Day' movement in May 2010, including posting online a magazine that included the artist in a hit list for violent extremists.

Chesser was sentenced to 25 years in prison last year.

The case is USA v. Morton, No. 12-cr-35, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Watch a clip of the South Park episode here:



