Rusk Inmate Pleads Guilty to Threatening President

TYLER � A 28-year-old Rusk man has pleaded guilty to making threats against the President of the United States of America, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales. Robert Lee Berkley, Jr., entered the plea this week in Tyler before U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Love. According to information presented in court, on June 16, 2010, Berkley was incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) Hodge Unit in Rusk. That day, he wrote a letter claiming that upon his release from TDCJ, he planned to travel to Washington, D.C., in order to kill President Barack Obama and the First Family. Berkley confirmed his plan during at least two separate interviews with law enforcement officers. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 14, 2010. Berkley faces up to five years in federal prison at sentencing. A sentencing date has not been set.