A Mercer Township man was sentenced to probation for terrorizing his brother on multiple occasions last year.

Jeffrey Ferguson, 60, pleaded guilty Feb. 9 in two cases for threatening his brother, and Judge Timothy McCune sentenced him Thursday to two years of probation. McCune ordered that Ferguson have no contact with his brother and that he continue mental health treatment.

Ferguson also must serve 40 hours of community service.

In both cases, Ferguson pleaded guilty to a single charge of terroristic threats for threatening his brother on two occasions in April 2020.

In the first case, authorities said Ferguson went to his brother's workplace in Slippery Rock April 8, and began to threaten him. His brother, a nurse at the Slippery Rock University Student Health Center, notified SRU police to report Ferguson had called him around 11:40 p.m. that night, threatening his life, according to charging documents.

Documents state that around 1 a.m. Ferguson was seen driving a pickup that pulled into a parking lot across from the health center, where his brother was working.

Police removed Ferguson from the truck and placed him in handcuffs. In that case, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of terroristic threats.

After he was charged, he was released on unsecured bail and ordered to have no contact with his brother.

But three days later, police were notified that Ferguson was at his brother's property in Mercer Township, documents said. This time, troopers got the call.

The sibling told police that the defendant possibly had a gun and was threatening to kill him. As troopers got there, police said, they saw Ferguson driving away in a pickup. They stopped him.

No gun was found. But in the truck's cup holder was an open can of beer, police said.

Later, during an interview, Ferguson admitted “attempting to purchase a Hi-Point handgun,” documents said, “and acknowledged that (he) would use the handgun on (his brother).”

For that, he pleaded guilty to terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another person.

Ferguson's brother was present Thursday during the sentencing.