Inmate sends menacing letter to President Obama, but gets the White House address wrong

(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

A Pennsylvania inmate admitted on Wednesday that he sent a death threat to the White House — or at least what he thought was the White House.

Prosecutors say that Joseph Savage was awaiting trial in October 2012 when he sent a letter to 1400 Pennsylvania Avenue — not the actual address of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue — threatening to "torture and murder" President Obama and harm a member of his family, The Associated Press reports. Despite the blunder, the letter still arrived at its intended destination. Savage, a convicted child molester, pleaded guilty to counts of threatening the president and his family, and will serve 12-and-a-half to 25 years in prison.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.