Muslim Convert Gets Nearly 12 Years in Prison for Online Threats Against 'South Park' Creators

A Muslim convert was sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison Friday for issuing threats against the creators of "South Park" and others he considered enemies of Islam, the Associated Press reported.

(Related: U.S. Authorities Charge Radical Muslims for Threats Against ‘South Park’ Creators)

Jesse Curtis Morton, 33, ran the now-defunct Revolution Muslim website, which he used to threaten the creators of the Comedy Central show for what they considered insults to the prophet Muhammad. In the show's now-infamous 200th and 201st episodes, viewers were led to believe Muhammad was shown disguised in a bear suit. Another defendant, Zachary Chesser, previously received 25 years in prison after he posted the writers' addresses and told readers to "pay them a visit."

Morton, who also goes by Younes Abdullah Mohammed, pleaded guilty in February to making the threats and also admitted to conspiring to solicit the murder of a Seattle cartoonist who participated in "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day," according to Politico. The physical depiction of Muhammad is considered a grave offense in Islam.

Before his 11-and-a-half-year sentence was handed down, Morton offered an apology for his actions, saying he "contributed to a clash of civilizations," according to the AP.

"I justified atrocities by Muslims simply because they were carried out by the weak against the powerful," he said.

Morton admitted the website included calls for violent jihad and that he posted information from Al-Qaeda's magazine on it. The magazine called for the Seattle artist's death and featured an article titled, "How to Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom."

According to the AP, prosecutor Gordon Kromberg said Morton's site inspired many would-be jihadis, including "Jihad Jane" Colleen LaRose; Antonio Benjamin Martinez, who sought to bomb a military recruiting station; and Jose Pimental, who plotted to assassinate members of the U.S. military returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Make a TV show we don't like -- we'll slit your throat. Draw a cartoon we don't like -- we'll slit your throat," Kromberg said summed up Morton's philosophy.

Morton was arrested last year in Morocco, where he had fled after Chesser was sentenced.