Hartford Man Charged With Threatening Judge

HARTFORD, CT — A Hartford man was arrested Tuesday and charged on a federal criminal complaint with threatening a federal official.

Dusan Mladen, also known as David Mladen, 62, of Hartford, was accused of making both written and verbal threats to a judge presiding in a bankruptcy case in which he is involved, according to Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

As alleged in the criminal complaint, Mladen is currently a litigant in a proceeding pending before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Connecticut, captioned In re: Eternal Enterprise, Inc. Mladen formerly owned Eternal Enterprise, Inc., which is the owner of eight apartment buildings in Hartford, and he has continued to be active in the management and decision making for the company, Daly said.

On July 5, 2017, the judge presiding over the Eternal Enterprise matter discovered in the mailbox of her residence an anonymous handwritten note containing the phrases “BACK OFF,” “YOU ARE OVERSTEPPING AUTHORITY” and “JUST WARNING FOR NOW,” Daly said

On July 10, 2017, the judge received a phone call that had been placed to her home phone number. During the call, the caller stated that he had visited the judge’s house last week and “I left a message for you.” He said that he wanted her to file an order tomorrow “extending the deadline to September 30,” and “then maybe everything will be ok," Daly said.

Although the caller refused to identify himself, the judge recognized the voice as Mladen’s. The U.S. Marshals Service subsequently confirmed that the cell phone used to make the call was at a location in the vicinity of Mladen’s residence.

On July 11, deputy U.S. Marshals interviewed Mladen at his residence, and he was arrested after he made additional threatening statements about the judge, according to Daly.

The charge of threatening a federal official carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, Daly said.

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