By Josh Kegley, McClatchy Newspapers –
LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Lexington woman who has threatened to harm numerous presidents and politicians was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Friday for threatening to kill to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Susan Mary Collins, 50, pleaded guilty earlier this year to mailing a threatening letter in September, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. According to Collins’ plea agreement, McConnell perceived her letter “as a genuine threat that could cause him harm.”
Collins, who suffers from depression and other medical and psychiatric problems, has served several stints in prison or on probation for threatening to kill numerous presidents, including former presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.
Collins spoke with the Lexington Herald-Leader about her condition in 2010. She said she never intended to follow through with her threats; Collins said she wrote the letters with hopes that she would be sent to prison.
“It was the easiest way to get myself thrown into prison without having to hurt anybody or really do anything,” she said at the time.
Collins said she had suicidal tendencies, post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder. The structure of prison helped her cope with her conditions, she said.
Collins said in November 2010 that she was seeing a good psychiatrist and was staying at the Catholic Action Center. She said she was confident she was on the road to recovery.
Under federal guidelines, Collins has to serve 85 percent of her prison sentence on the latest charge.
