Anthony Elonis was sentenced to jail time for making violent threats against estranged wife, but brought appeal based on grounds comments weren’t to be taken seriously The supreme court ventured nervously into the worlds of internet trolling and rap music on Monday as it sought to avoid establishing new restrictions on free speech to deal with the case of a Pennsylvania man who posted violent threats against his estranged wife on Facebook.Anthony Elonis was sentenced to 44 months in prison for making those threats and other online comments deemed to threaten school shootings and FBI officers, but brought his appeal all the way to Washington on the grounds that what he’d posted was not meant to be taken seriously and was instead a form of anger management therapy that made him less likely to act out violent fantasies.