An Elk Point man serving prison time for threatening a federal judge in Rapid City has now been sentenced to an additional 48 months in prison for threatening a federal judge in Oregon.

Christopher James Austad, 25, pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with mailing threatening communications, admitting that he sent a letter threatening to injure or kill an Oregon judge last July.

Austad is already serving a seven-year sentence for sending a threatening letter to U.S. District Judge Richard Battey of Rapid City in 2006. In the letter, Austad, who was angry about sentences Battey had given to a few of Austad's friends, threatened to hurt or kill Battey.

Although Austad was in the South Dakota State Penitentiary at the time for grand theft, he claimed he could hire someone to carry out his threats. A few days later, he wrote a letter to U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., threatening to kill Johnson and President George W. Bush.

In January 2005, four days before he was scheduled to be paroled from prison on the theft conviction, Austad threatened to kill his parole officer. According to an Associated Press story, Austad also has threatened prison employees and racked up more than 100 infractions while behind bars.

Austad initially said he planned to plead insanity to the latest charges involving the Oregon judge, but he later abandoned that strategy.

A co-defendant, penitentiary inmate Jason Paul Wood, 25, is scheduled for trial this month in U.S. District Court. The maximum penalty upon conviction is 10 years in federal prison. No further information was available about Wood.

In other federal court news:

- Paul Henry Ortega, 38, Edward, Colo., was sentenced by Judge Battey to 14 months in prison, three years of supervised release and was fined $1,000. Ortega pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine in connection with an incident that happened Aug. 6 in Lawrence County. He was originally indicted on an additional charge of being a drug user in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

- Toni Mondall Harmon, 33, Lower Brule, pleaded guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury, admitting that she assaulted a woman in Lower Brule on Dec. 16. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. She was released on bond pending sentencing.

- Anthony Little Hoop Jr., 18, St. Francis, pleaded guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury, admitting that he assaulted a St. Francis man Feb. 3 in Todd County. Little Hoop is in custody pending sentencing Sept. 8.

- Kent Hazelrigg, 47, Rapid City, pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and for possessing meth with the intention of distributing it in South Dakota. Federal court documents say the alleged conspiracy began last summer. The conspiracy charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, with a maximum of life in prison and a $4 million fine upon conviction. The possession charge carries a mandatory five-year minimum sentence with a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine upon conviction. Trial was set for Aug. 12.

- Craig Dupris, 29, Eagle Butte, pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. The maximum penalty upon conviction is 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. No trial date was set.

- Courtney Krogman, 21, Rapid City, pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with possessing a firearm silencer not registered to him. The maximum penalty upon conviction is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Krogman is free on bond pending trial.

- William Allen Russell, 21, Lower Brule, pleaded not guilty to an escape charge filed after he allegedly left Community Alternatives of the Black Hills without permission. The maximum penalty upon conviction is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He is in custody pending court proceedings.

- Troy Lynn Good Crow, 47, Pine Ridge, pleaded not guilty to a charge of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. The maximum penalty upon conviction is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Good Crow was released on bond pending trial.

Editor's note: The U.S. District Court generally prosecutes felonies committed on reservations, and tribal courts handle misdemeanor crimes. Felonies that happen off the reservation are prosecuted in state circuit court and are reported separately in the Journal. Some drug and firearms cases are also prosecuted in federal court.