Marine Veteran Sentenced In Case Of Bomb Threat Against Michigan Judge

MOUNT CLEMENS (WWJ/AP) - A man who pleaded no contest to making bomb and death threats against a Detroit-area judge has been sentenced to nearly 11 months in jail.

The Macomb Daily reports 56-year-old Keith Rebar learned his punishment Thursday. He earlier entered the plea in connection with threats made last September.

The Washington Township man was accused of threatening to place bombs under Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Katherine Viviano's car if he didn't get favorable rulings in a child custody case.

"This threat is very specific as to who it is — and not just that I'm gonna kill them or I'm gonna hurt them," County Prosecutor Eric Smith said last September, "but specific ways that they're gonna go about doing it with a pressure cooker bomb and/or a shooting."

"When it comes to this level, this specificity about pressure cooker bombs and shooting and as a direct result of specific rulings…Well, given the way of the world and how dangerous it can be at times, law enforcement wanted to act quickly," Smith said.

Defense attorney Leon Weiss said Rebar didn't intend to follow through but his client "understands" he was wrong.

A no contest plea isn't an admission of guilt but treated that way for sentencing purposes.

Rebar, a 13-year Marine veteran, was denied entry into veterans or mental health treatment courts, but will get assessed for Veterans Administration care.

Viviano is the sister of Michigan Supreme Court Justice David Viviano.

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