Crime & Safety
'Not a Smart Thing' to Threaten to Kill a Kane County Judge
Christopher Garcia Jr. made threats against Associate Judge Alice Tracy on May 7, 2013.
An Aurora man has been convicted of threatening to kill a Kane County judge.
Christopher Garcia Jr., 25, of the 500 block of Charles Street, Aurora, was convicted late Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, by a Kane County jury, of threatening a public official, a Class 3 felony.
On May 7, 2013, Garcia was present in Aurora Branch Court, a branch of Kane County Circuit Court, for a misdemeanor offense of resisting a peace officer. Garcia became angry and was ordered held in contempt of court by Associate Judge Alice Tracy. When Kane County Sheriff’s personnel told Garcia that he would be sentenced to 30 days in the Kane County jail for being in contempt of court, Garcia made several specific threats of violence toward Judge Tracy and of the destruction of government property.
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Circuit Judge Susan Clancy Boles set Garcia’s next court appearance for 1 p.m.
Oct. 31, 2013, for post-trial motions and sentencing. Garcia faces a sentence of probation or between two and five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Garcia is being held in the Kane County jail in lieu of $104,000 bail.
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“Threatening a judge, even as a joke or out of frustration, is just not a smart thing to do,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said. “We take threats to public officials seriously and we will prosecute them appropriately.”
The case was prosecuted by Kane County Assistant State’s Attorneys Mark D. Stajdohar and Megan Matuska.
SOURCE: Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office
