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DENVER (AP) — A man accused of sending 70 profanity-laced death threats to the accuser and prosecutor in the Kobe Bryant rape case was sentenced Monday to nine months in federal prison. Cedric Augustine, 38, of Long Beach, Calif., pleaded guilty in March to a single felony count of making interstate threats. A mental evaluation had concluded Augustine was mentally disabled but able to make decisions for himself. Visibly frightened, he broke down in tears several times during Monday's hearing. FBI agent Craig Byrkit testified that Augustine had left 69 telephone messages and one letter threatening violence and to blow up the Eagle County Courthouse.
The sexual assault charge against the Los Angeles Lakers star was dropped in September 2004 after his accuser said she no longer wanted to participate in the case. She and Bryant later reached an undisclosed settlement in her civil lawsuit against him. Bryant denied assaulting the woman and said they had consensual sex. Two other people have pleaded guilty to making threats against the accuser. John Roche of Iowa was sentenced to four months in prison and $1,000 fine. Patrick Graber, a Swiss man living in California, was sentenced to three years in prison. | 
