East Lansing, MI - A 20-year-old former Upper Penisula man who admitted using social media to make violent threats against Jewish people has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison. The sentence is far short of what prosecutors wanted.
Seann Pietila is accused of using Instagram to spread neo-Nazi ideology, discussing plans to kill people and praising mass shooters. The FBI says Pietila also had written the name of an East Lansing synagogue on his phone along with a 2024 date.
Pietila moved to the Lansing area from the Upper Peninsula when he was 16 years old.
Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of nearly three years.