Kentucky man charged with making threats against Representatives

By Steve Bittenbender LOUISVILLE Ky. (Reuters) - A Kentucky man was charged by a federal grand jury on Wednesday with threatening to kill Republican Representative Andy Barr and his predecessor, former Representative Ben Chandler, a Democrat, prosecutors said. Russell Little, 40, of Richmond, Kentucky, left a series of threatening voice mails at Barr's Lexington office between April and August of this year, threatening to "bust (Barr's) brains out" and "bust (Chandler) in the head with a bullet," prosecutors said in a complaint. Law enforcement officials tracked Little down in June and told him he would face charges if he continued to make threats. Little apologized, but the threats continued, prosecutors said. Kentucky State Police arrested Little after a 40-mile chase on Interstate 75 in August. In his 1998 Pontiac Firebird was a loaded .38 revolver, prosecutors said. Little faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He is currently in federal custody awaiting arraignment. His attorney was not immediately available for comment. Barr defeated Chandler in the 2012 election. (Reporting by Steve Bittenbender. Editing by Andre Grenon)