A Marshall man will spend the next eight years in a state prison after his plea to a charge of making a terrorist threat.

51-year-old David N Washington II learned his sentence Monday, Nov. 10 in a Saline County courtroom, after entering an Alford plea in September to the charge that he phone a bomb threat into Fitzgibbon Hospital last July. A defendant who enters an Alford plea maintains their innocence, but acknowledges that the state has enough evidence to secure a conviction.

Washington was accused by Marshall Police of calling Fitzgibbon Hospital around 10:30 p.m. on July 31 to make the threat. Police say they traced the call to Washington, who denied making the call. However, police added that a review of the call log on his phone showed a call to the hospital that evening. The hospital activated emergency response protocols and briefly initiated a lock down, allowing bomb dogs to search the facility and perimeter before giving the all-clear.

As part of his sentence, Washington is also committed to a long-term substance abuse program.