FARGO - A man convicted of threatening to kill President Bush has asked a judge not to send him to a halfway house after his release from prison, saying he does not want to be among "strangers with bad habits, bad attitudes and criminal tendencies."

Daniel Cvijanovich was found guilty last October of one felony count of threats against the president. He was sentenced to 19 months in prison, followed by one year in a halfway house and two years on electronic monitoring.

In a letter to U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson, Cvijanovich asked to be placed on electronic monitoring after his release from prison instead of being sent to a halfway house, which is a place generally used to help prisoners transition back to society.

Cvijanovich's scheduled release date is Oct. 15.

"A standard condition of supervised release is that the supervisee not associate with criminals," Cvijanovich wrote to the judge. "As you know, I've never been a lifestyle criminal myself. Do you want to turn me into one?"

Authorities said Cvijanovich told the Stutsman County Jail inmates that he planned to kill Bush after he was released from prison. Cvijanovich had been serving time for throwing a rock at the federal building in Fargo. His lawyer said the threats were not serious and the testimony by the inmates was not credible.

Cvijanovich, as he did at his trial, maintained his innocence in the letter to Erickson.

"I've harbored no bad intentions toward the president since I've been locked up," Cvijanovich wrote. "I've had some ugly thoughts over the years, but I've never acted on them. I never will. I'm not a psychopath and violence doesn't come naturally to me."

Erickson told court officials to file Cvijanovich's letter as a motion for relief. Cvijanovich said during a hearing Friday that he only wanted to give the judge his thoughts on his release conditions.

"The reason I didn't file a formal motion is because I haven't heard back from the 8th Circuit (court of appeals) on my appeal," Cvijanovich said, representing himself via speakerphone from prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Shasky called the motion premature and said the government would oppose any changes to Cvijanovich's release conditions, especially without talking to a probation officer.

"I would suggest we hold off at this point," Shasky told Erickson.

The judge ordered the motion withdrawn and told Cvijanovich he could renew it later. But the judge said it is unusual for parolees in Cvijanovich's situation to be released without spending some time in a halfway house.

"Frankly, if you're still staying there 12 months after you are released, you would have failed miserably," Erickson said.