Madison, Wisconsin.. A wisconsin man is accused of Sending intimidating emails to the chief justice of the state Supreme Court He was sentenced to probation.
Ryan Thornton, 37, of Racine, was charged in Dane County in October on a felony count of stalking as well as misdemeanor counts of intimidation of a victim and disorderly conduct.
According to a criminal complaint, Thornton sent Chief Justice Jill Karofsky emails last fall accusing her of fraud, asking her to “fire” herself from her position and asking for her home address.
Online court records indicate prosecutors dropped the stalking charge Monday. In return, Thornton pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to two years of probation. He was also ordered to have no contact with Karofsky and was banned from entering Dane County, where the state Supreme Court chambers are located in the capital, Madison.
Thornton’s attorney, listed in court records as Anthony John Jurek, did not immediately respond to an email Tuesday from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Thornton told investigators that he was upset with the attorney he hired to represent him in a 2019 strangulation case and that the Office of Lawyers Regulation, an office in the Supreme Court that disciplines attorneys, did not investigate the attorney. According to the complaint, Thornton called the office more than 70 times from August 1 to October 1 to complain about the attorney.
Karofsky told investigators that Thornton’s letters frightened her so much that she was afraid to leave her house to get her mail and asked police to escort her to her seat during a Milwaukee Brewers game and a Wisconsin Badgers game.