FARGO - The lawyer for a man accused of making threats against President Bush says the case should be thrown out because prosecutors are breaking an earlier plea agreement.

Daniel Cvijanovich has pleaded not guilty to three counts of threats against the president. Prosecutors said the threats occurred in November 2006, while Cvijanovich was serving time in prison for damaging government property and threatening federal officers.

As part of a plea agreement in that case, the government agreed not to prosecute Cvijanovich for alleged threats against the president in February 2005. Defense attorney Benjamin Thomas says Cvijanovich was merely rehashing those threats while talking to other prisoners last year and did not violate the plea agreement.

"The government should not be allowed to re-litigate what they refused to litigate in 2006," Thomas said.

The threats in 2005 allegedly involved Bush's stop in Fargo after his State of the Union speech, Thomas said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Shasky said the threats heard by inmates last year were different from the 2005 case and came six months after Cvijanovich signed the plea agreement.

"This is new information … additional threats," Shasky said.

The complaint accuses Cvijanovich of telling three inmates in the Stutsman County Jail that he planned to kill Bush when he was released from prison. Prosecutors said Cvijanovich told one inmate, "I want to kill the president so I will be famous."

Each charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Thomas has filed a motion to exclude testimony from the inmates. At least two of them agreed to talk in return for a reduced sentence, he said.

"Mr. Thomas would have us all believe … these people are just jailbirds and have no credibility whatsoever," Shasky said. "He's forgetting that his client himself is a convicted felon."

U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson has not ruled on the motion. Cvijanovich's trial is set for Oct. 15.