An Upper St. Clair man who typed e-mails in the name of the star of the "Ghost Hunters" TV show, in which he threatened to murder President Bush and shoot Roto-Rooter employees, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison.

Barry C. Eckstrom, 51, who lives with his parents, will undergo psychiatric treatment while behind bars on the recommendation of a federal judge.

His public defender, Thomas Livingston, argued that he is mentally unbalanced, but prosecutors said he knew what he was doing.

For whatever reason, Mr. Eckstrom was angry at Jason Hawes, a Rhode Island plumber and founder of the ghost-hunting Atlantic Paranormal Society who is a star of the "Ghost Hunters" series on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Beginning in March, Mr. Eckstrom began sending threatening e-mails to Mr. Hawes from libraries in Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon and Bethel Park.

He then gravitated to sending e-mails in Mr. Hawes' name to attractive young female members of the paranormal society in which he threatened to rape and kill them. He also indicated he had killed women before, although prosecutors said he hasn't.

The e-mails, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret Picking, were "horrible, sexually violent" messages. In some cases, he signed his missives "The Antichrist."

As the death threats to Mr. Hawes escalated, Ms. Picking said, Mr. Eckstrom suddenly began including threats to kill President Bush.

Mr. Hawes already had contacted the FBI, but when the threat against Mr. Bush surfaced, the Secret Service took an interest. The two agencies teamed up.

On May 14, agents hiding in the book stacks at the Bethel Park library used binoculars to watch Mr. Eckstrom type on the computer while another agent sat at the computer next to him.

Agents watched Mr. Eckstrom send one e-mail in the name of Mr. Hawes to the Roto-Rooter headquarters office in Cincinnati in which he threatened to shoot employees there. Mr. Hawes, as viewers of "Ghost Hunters" know, is a plumber for Roto-Rooter.

Mr. Eckstrom next logged onto the Web site of the Department of Homeland Security and typed a second e-mail in Mr. Hawes' name to President Bush.

"I hate and despise the scum President Bush!" said the message. "I am going to kill him in June on his father's birthday."

Agents arrested him before he could hit the send button. Under federal law, a sent e-mail is treated the same as one that was typed but not sent.