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Ex-SIU student sentenced to 5 years in threat case

Olutosin Oduwole.
(Courtesy Madison County Sheriff’s Department)
Olutosin Oduwole.

A former Southern Illinois University student has been sentenced to five years in prison for writing what prosecutors say was a note demanding money and threatening a Virginia Tech-like killing spree.

Twenty-six-year-old Olutosin Oduwole was sentenced Wednesday in Madison County.

A jury convicted him in October of attempting to make a terrorist threat and unauthorized possession or storage of a weapon.

The judge sided with jurors in dismissing Oduwole's claim that he was an aspiring rapper, and that the threatening words were innocent lyrical musings.

The judge sentenced him to five years on the threat charge and a year on the weapons charge to be served concurrently.

The judge also rejected his request for a new trial and his bid to remain free on bond pending his appeal.