RENO, NV - One of our area's most well-known anti-government protesters, was found guilty Thursday morning on stalking and harassment charges.

71-year old Guy Felton of Sun Valley was sentenced to 48-hours of community service, plus a suspended six-month jail sentence for sending threatening letters and emails to state and local leaders.

Judge Barbara Finley ordered Felton to stay away from Washoe County commission meetings for at least a year. He is also forbidden from having any contact with County Commissioner David Humke, who Felton openly threatened earlier this year.

Felton admitted to sending letters to seven other state and local leaders--including governor Jim Gibbons, threatening to hold officials hostage, kill them, and even hurt their families. While Felton says the threats were empty, prosecutor Roy Stralla says he wasn't so sure.

"It's hard to tell if someone is dangerous or not, but the specificity of his threats suggest he could be a dangerous person. Also, he is quite ill and sometimes people who are ill don't have anything to lose and that makes people more concerned that they will carry out their threats," said Stralla, a deputy district attorney for Washoe County.

Felton, who is living with cancer--represented himself in court Thursday. He plans to work with senior citizens to fulfill his community service obligations. Judge Finley told him he should use his intelligence and outspoken personality in a more constructive way.

Commissioner David Humke chose not to comment on the case, saying it would only fuel the fire. Our calls to Guy Felton himself were not immediately returned.