German man who sent threatening letters with neo-Nazi acronym sentenced to 6 years

The threatening letters were signed "NSU 2.0," an acronym for a neo-Nazi gang called the National Socialist Underground.

A neo Nazi attends a rally in Budapest October 23, 2009. The words, the motto of the S.S., read "my honor is my loyalty" (photo credit: LASZIO BALOGH/REUTERS)
A neo Nazi attends a rally in Budapest October 23, 2009. The words, the motto of the S.S., read "my honor is my loyalty"
(photo credit: LASZIO BALOGH/REUTERS)

A German man was sentenced Thursday to nearly six years in prison for sending threatening letters signed with the acronym of a neo-Nazi group.

The man, who was identified only as Alexander M. in keeping with German privacy rules, got five years and 10 months in prison, news agency dpa reported.

A court in Frankfurt found the 54-year-old guilty on a range of charges including inciting crime, inciting hatred, disturbing the peace, issuing threats, and assaulting a law enforcement officer, according to dpa.

 A Nazi flag with an eagle and a swastika is seen in a cupboard at the auction house Hermann Historica in Munich, Germany, November 20, 2019. Several hundred Nazi objects were up for auction, amongst them Adolf Hitler's hat and one of Eva Braun's dresses.  (credit: REUTERS/ANDREAS GEBERT)
A Nazi flag with an eagle and a swastika is seen in a cupboard at the auction house Hermann Historica in Munich, Germany, November 20, 2019. Several hundred Nazi objects were up for auction, amongst them Adolf Hitler's hat and one of Eva Braun's dresses. (credit: REUTERS/ANDREAS GEBERT)

He allegedly sent letters via text, email and fax to politicians, lawyers and journalists signed "NSU 2.0," an acronym for a neo-Nazi gang called the National Socialist Underground.

Who were the National Socialist Underground?

NSU members are suspected of murdering between 2000 and 2007 at least nine immigrants, eight Turks and a Greek, as well as a policewoman. The racially-motivated violence shook Germany, a country that believed it had learned the lessons of its past.

German law bans the display of any Nazi iconography.