Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo reported a Wisconsin man pleaded guilty Wednesday to threatening and filing false charges againstvnb a municipal court judge and 27 other police and municipal employees in Winslow and Voorhees, NJ.
Michael Rinderele, M/29, of Waukesha, Wis., pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Samuel Natal to 3rd degree Threats and Other Improper Influence in Official and Political Matters and four counts of 4th degree Retaliation Against a Public Official for Past Official Conduct. He has accepted a five year term of incarceration in New Jersey state prison as part of the plea agreement. He also will pay more than $600 in fines and agreed to have no contact with the more than two dozen public officials who were victimized in this case.
Rinderele admitted that he threatened a Voorhees Township Municipal Court Judge due to traffic offenses filed against Rinderele’s common-law wife, Joann Ellis. Rinderele emailed the judge on September 26, 2013, stating that he would financially ruin the judge if charges against Ellis weren’t dropped. The judge ignored Rinderele’s request and Rinderele admitted to filing fraudulent commercial liens against the judge and 27 other public officials in Voorhees and Winslow, including court staff and police personnel.
Rinderele identified 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. The kind of harassment directed at the Voorhees judge and other officials is typical for the organization. Sovereign Citizens attempt to use bureaucratic processes to engage in “paper terrorism.” Sovereign Citizens commonly use the type of fraudulent commercial liens filed by Rinderele as a form of harassment. These 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.
Rinderele also pleaded guilty to Eluding in Pennsylvania earlier this summer and received probation in Dolphin County, PA.
Sentencing is scheduled for October 3.
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