Massachusetts woman who stalked Spacey sentenced

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts woman who threatened to blow up, torture and castrate Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey in what prosecutors called a “persistent and malevolent” cyberstalking campaign has been sentenced to more than four years in prison.

Linda Louise Culkin, 55, of Quincy, was also ordered by a judge Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boston to pay Spacey $124,000 to compensate him for the bodyguards he hired during the two-year stretch when she harassed him.

Culkin was credited with time served since her arrest in January 2012, meaning she has about 18 months of the four-year, three-month sentence left.

She pleaded guilty in November to charges including mailing threatening communications, and sending false information regarding explosives.

Culkin had in her apartment a picture of Spacey with his eyes blacked out and mouth scribbled out and multiple copies of a page entitled “Killing Kevin Spacey,” authorities said.

Spacey was not in court for the sentencing, but a victim impact statement was read.

“It is difficult to measure the degree of terror this situation has caused,” he wrote.

Culkin apologized.

“I have some mental health issues,” she said. “I was overzealous. I cop to that. I fully apologize to him. I didn’t mean it to be so harsh.”

Spacey won Oscars in 1996 for “The Usual Suspects” and in 2000 for “American Beauty.”

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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