Man pleads guilty in plot to kill Obama

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- An Arkansas man pleaded guilty to plotting to kill several blacks in 2008, including then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, the Justice Department said.

Paul Schlesselman of West Helena, Ark., pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy, one count of threatening to kill and inflict bodily harm upon a presidential candidate and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, the department said in a release.

Schlesselman admitted to conspiring to kill dozens of people, focusing on blacks, the Justice Department said. He also acknowledged he wanted to conclude his killing spree by assassinating then-Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate at the time.

Schlesselman could be sentenced to as long as 10 years in prison. Sentencing is April 15 in Jackson, Tenn.

"Despite great civil rights progress, hate-fueled violence remains all too common in our country, as illustrated by this unthinkable conspiracy," Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement issued from Washington.