Clayton Lee Waagner stood silently in federal court Thursday as his attorney described him as a “man of conscience” who never harmed anyone when he stole cars, shoplifted guns and mailed fake anthrax letters to abortion clinics.

        But when the judge asked Mr. Waagner to speak, he told a slightly different story.

Waagner

        “I did, in fact, want to harm someone,” said Mr. Waagner, who was convicted in Cincinnati earlier this year of firearms and car theft charges. “I wanted to kill an abortion provider. I just couldn't do it.”

        Minutes later, U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott sentenced the 45-year-old Pennsylvania man to nearly 20 years in federal prison.

        The sentence came eight months after Mr. Waagner was arrested at a Kinko's store in Springdale, ending a nationwide crime spree that authorities believe included the mailing of threatening letters to hundreds of abortion clinics and women's health centers.

        Mr. Waagner admitted during his trial in Cincinnati that he was the one who mailed the letters, even though he has not yet been charged with those crimes.

        The judge added the 20-year sentence to the 30-year sentence Mr. Waagner already must serve in Illinois. He will face many more years in prison if he is charged and convicted in the fake anthrax mailings.

        Enquirer reporter Jim Hannah contributed to this report.

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