A Peoria man has been sentenced to 42 months in federal prison for sending threatening communications aimed at a U.S. District Court judge, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. On August 21, Paul Jordan Klawer, aged 34, was handed down his sentence, and will also face a three-year term of supervised release after completing his time behind bars, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of Illinois.
The serious nature of his threats was underscored by the presiding U.S. District Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins during the hearing. Klawer, representing himself in a civil rights action became frustrated with the case proceedings and threatened violence in a slew of emails. "Tell the judge if he doesn’t take my warnings serious…I’ll blow his f****** brains out in broad daylight and put on his Tombstone exactly how much value he gave our future by suppressing evidence of misconduct…" Klawer wrote, as stated by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of Illinois. His threats did not end there, as he also intimidated others with acts of violence, including plans to destroy the Department of Human Services in Springfield.
In attendance at the hearing, Judge Jenkins found the threats to the judge presiding over Klawer's case to be "tremendously serious." She remarked about the messages, "specific, graphic, disgusting, and criminal, and all arising out of the normal and natural progression” of any civil case instituted in the country. Jenkins emphasized that such communications degrade our judicial system, and pose a destabilizing and dangerous threat to individuals simply performing their duty.
Klawer was taken into custody in December 2023 after charges were brought against him. He faced a federal jury indictment later that month and initially entered a plea of not guilty, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of Illinois. However, he shifted to a guilty plea this past April. He has been detained by the U.S. Marshals Service ever since his arrest, a period extending to his sentencing date.
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