Wisconsin Man Who Threatened South Jersey Judge Sentenced to Five Years in Prison

A Wisconsin man with ties to a domestic terrorist group has been sentenced to five years in prison for threatening a municipal court judge in New Jersey and filing false liens against that judge and more than two dozen other public officials in Winslow and Voorhees.

Michael Rinderle, 30, of Waukesha, Wisconsin, pleaded guilty in August to one count of third degree threats and other improper influence in official and political matters and four counts of fourth degree retaliation against a public official for past official conduct.

He was also ordered to pay more than $600 in fines and have no contact with the public officials he victimized, as well as any member of their families or households, Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo, Voorhees Police Chief Louis Bordi and Winslow Police Chief Robert Stimelski announced on Wednesday.

Under his plea, Rinderele admitted he threatened a Voorhees Township Municipal Court Judge due to traffic offenses filed against Rinderele’s common-law wife, Joann Ellis.

Rinderle admitted he sent the judge an e-mail on Sept. 26 threatening to “financially ruin” the judge if charges against Ellis weren’t dropped. The judge ignored the request.

Rinderle filed fraudulent commercial liens against the judge and 27 other public officials in Voorhees, Winslow Township and communities in Burlington and Gloucester counties. This included court staff and police personnel.

Rinderle identifies with the Sovereign Citizen movement, whose members advocate recognizing only common law and argue federal, state and municipal codes have no authority over them.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation lists the Sovereign Citizen Movement as an extremist domestic terrorist threat.

Sovereign Citizens attempt to use bureaucratic processes to engage in “paper terrorism.” Sovereign Citizens commonly use the type of fraudulent commercial liens filed by Rinderle as a form of harassment, officials said.

The liens were filed without supporting evidence of a debt and can damage the credit rating of the victims. It is a criminal act to file a false lien against another person.

“When this type of conduct particularly liens are placed against a public official or public employee it does have the potential to substantially limit their ability to conduct their finances which everyone has the right to do,” Assistant Prosecutor Nevan Soumilas said during sentencing. “I know the federal government has a statute that categorizes this as ‘paper terrorism’ and the state statute does not, and perhaps the state will move in that direction.”

Rinderele also pleaded guilty to Eluding in Pennsylvania earlier this summer and received probation in Dauphin County, Pa.