A man was sentenced to more than 10 years in a federal prison Wednesday for threatening to declare war on Fargo.

Patrick McMorrow was supposed to get 30 years to life under federal sentencing guidelines for mailing threatening letters, extortion and threatening to use weapons of mass destruction. Federal Judge Dan Hovland said that although he rarely strays from the guidelines, he was making an exception because the case was "unusual" and rose out of "stupid, attention-getting" tactics.

McMorrow said the letters were his attempt to "get my day in court" for a civil rights action against the Fargo Police Department. McMorrow said he was mistreated by Fargo police officers and he didn't get a chance to present all of the evidence in his defense at jury trials.

"All I wanted to do was get my day in court. That's all I wanted," McMorrow said. "I didn't have any intention of bombing anyplace or anything."

The letters were mailed to the Fargo police, Fargo Mayor Bruce Furness, Gov. John Hoeven and the White House. In them, McMorrow wrote that he believed his constitutional rights had been violated and he demanded millions of dollars in damages to avoid the "war."

McMorrow told Federal Bureau of Investigation agents looking into the case that his threats were "as serious as a heart attack."

Hovland asked McMorrow again Wednesday if he would be a danger to the community.

"I can't say I won't be a danger in the future, because I will be," McMorrow said. "I will get my day in court."

McMorrow's attorney, Tom Tuntland, asked his client if he'd hurt anybody.

"Just their pride," McMorrow said.

When he sent the letters, McMorrow was serving a two-year prison sentence in Bismarck for terrorizing, violating a protection order and failing to register as a sex offender. He also was convicted of arson in 1980 and gross sexual imposition in 1992.

Tuntland said his client was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marines and has a degenerative disease.

"It's unfortunate but in today's society there's no place for Patrick McMorrow," Tuntland said.

McMorrow was sentenced to 140 months imprisonment for the three federal charges. He'll receive credit for the 11 months he's spent in the Burleigh County jail.

(Reach reporter Mike Albrecht at 250-8261 or cops@ndonline.com.)