time in the jail. Cowart's lawyer argued in a November 13 petition that the grand jury was racially stacked against him because it included only two white members, while "21 were African-American or of another race or races". Cowart's attorney argued his indictment should be dismissed because jury could not "under the most modest constitutional scrutiny ... be considered fair, impartial and unprejudiced." In February 2009, a federal judge granted Schlesselman and Cowart limited access to court records on the grand jury selection and gave them permission to question procedures for selecting jurors. However, their defense attorneys were not allowed to challenge the resulting racial makeup of the actual jury. Also in February 2009, Schlesselman's lawyer asked the court to dismiss statements he previously gave police and evidence that he contended was wrongfully seized during searches of his home and another residence. Judge J. Daniel Breen of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee refused this request in April. Schlesselman's counsel argued his assassination threat charges should be dropped because he said the alleged comments were made while in custody, so he could not have carried them out and they were not a "true threat". Judge Breen rejected that argument in March 2009. The prosecution asked for two separate trials, which were expected to take place in Jackson, Tennessee, the area where the alleged crimes occurred. Guilty pleas and sentencing Schlesselman pleaded guilty to two counts in the indictment against him plus one count of an information on January 14, 2010, with an agreed-upon sentence of ten years. Cowart pleaded guilty to eight of the nine counts in the superseding indictment on March 29, 2010. On April 15, 2010, Judge Breen sentenced Schlesselman to 10 years in federal prison. Judge Breen sentenced Cowart to 14 years in prison on October 22, 2010. The U.S. Justice Department said that Cowart could have been sentenced to a maximum 75 years, and Cowart was originally to be sentenced on August 13. Incarceration Schlesselman served his sentence at the medium-security Federal Correctional Institution in McKean, Pennsylvania, and was released in July 2017. Cowart served his sentence at the medium-security Federal Correctional Institution in Williamsburg, South Carolina, and was released in 2020. References External links Barack Obama Faces 30 Death Threats a day, Stretching US Secret Service by Toby Harnden, Daily Telegraph, August 3, 2009 2008 in Tennessee Obama Assassination plot