Agawam man gets 15 years in threat case

A 57-year-old Agawam man was sentenced yesterday to 15 years in prison by a US District Court judge for threatening a federal prosecutor and illegally possessing ricin. Michael Crooker had pleaded guilty to mailing a letter with a threat to injure an officer or employee of the United States and to possessing ricin, which is considered “a weapon of mass destruction’’ under federal law, without the required registration, according to a statement from US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. Crooker was arrested on June 23, 2004, by federal agents. He sent two threatening letters from jail, one to an assistant US attorney that mentioned Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, Ortiz said.