Ohio ex-inmate: Drinking led to threat to judge

Ohio ex-inmate: Drinking led to threat to judge

LIMA, Ohio (AP) — A Scotsman released from prison four years ago after spending two decades on Ohio’s death row says he was drinking heavily when he left a threatening message for a judge who prosecuted his original case.

Ken Richey wrote in a letter to The Lima News that he regrets calling the Putnam County courthouse from his Mississippi home last New Year’s Eve.

Richey pleaded guilty to a felony retaliation charge last week and now faces up to three years in prison.

He says he made the call when he was drunk and depressed.

Richey was on death row after being convicted of setting a fire that killed a 2-year-old girl. A U.S. court determined his lawyers mishandled the case and he was set free in 2008 under a plea deal.