Well, that's one less thing Michael Jackson needs to worry about.
A Canadian man has pleaded guilty to emailing death threats to Jackson. Adrian Poffley, 26, was given a conditional discharge and put on probation for a year. Per the terms of his sentence, Poffley must avoid using email for the next 12 months.
Jackson's child-molestation case took an unexpected detour to Kitchener, Ontario, in August, when Poffley was fingered as the person responsible for targeting Jackson with threatening emails.
Poffley was channel-surfing on Aug. 16 when he came upon a broadcast of Jackson entering the courthouse in Santa Maria, California. The Canadian man, who suffers from a bipolar disorder and had skipped his meds that day, was inspired to head to the computer, where he fired off a note to the court's Website.
"Jackson will not make it to his car," the message read. "This is a promise. By the way, bulletproof vests are weakest under the arm."
After the hearing, Poffley sent a second missive: "The cop in the green suit and blue shirt was in the way. Maybe next time."
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The notes touched off heightened security at the courthouse. The Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department quickly traced the note back to Poffley's account via his ISP, Bell Canada's Sympatico Internet service. Canadian authorities took over the case and arrested Poffley five days later.
Poffley told Toronto's Globe and Mail that he wanted to draw attention to Jackson's molestation charges--just in case anyone in the galaxy hadn't heard.
The man's lawyer, Sean Safa, told Justice Margaret Woolcott that his client was back on his prescription and "has realized even Michael Jackson is entitled to a presumption of innocence."
At the urging of both Safa and the prosecutor, Anita Gustin, Woolcott on Monday gave Poffley the conditional discharge, which means his record will be wiped clean if he behaves himself while on probation.
In addition to a raft of lawsuits, Jackson, 45, is facing 10 felony counts of molestation, conspiracy and plying a child with wine. He has pleaded innocent to all charges. His trial is set to begin Jan. 31.