CEDAR RAPIDS – An Iowa Falls man who threatened to cut judges’ throats has been sent to prison.
Andre Michael Lafontaine, III, 35, from Iowa Falls, Iowa, was charged in July of 2015 in a criminal complaint in United States District Court in Cedar Rapids, with transmitting in interstate commerce, a threat to injure another person. According to the criminal complaint, Lafontaine left a voice mail message with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., expressing his dissatisfaction with the lack of action on previous complaints made by Lafontaine to the FBI and, threatening, that if the complaints were “not satisfied or investigated properly, these judges in Eldora are gonna get their (expletive deleted) throats cut . . .”
At a detention hearing later held in Cedar Rapids, Chief United States Magistrate Judge Jon S. Scoles ordered Lafontaine held without bond pending further proceedings in the case. Judge Scoles was concerned that Lafontaine’s recent statement was not an isolated event. The court cited evidence presented at the hearing showing Lafontaine had previously made statements to a federal court employee that were construed as potentially threatening, and had sent a letter to the FBI expressing concerns about the FBI’s consideration of Lafontaine’s complaints, in which Lafontaine stated, “I feel since nothing has been done about any of these situations for many years now I may have to take a life just to defendant myself, which I no longer will hesitate to do . . .”
Judge Scoles also noted a document seized from Lafontaine’s residence appeared to contain a list of complaints Lafontaine harbored against numerous individuals or organizations, most of whom he alleged had “obstructed justice,” or participated in a “conspiracy” against him. Scoles cited the concerns of family members that Lafontaine was suffering from an apparent mental disorder, and noted it appeared he was becoming more distressed.
The government advised the court it would be requesting the court to order defendant undergo a psychological evaluation prior to trial.
Last week, Lafontaine was sentenced to 18 months in prison with 3 years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Richard L. Murphy and was investigated by the Federal Protective Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Iowa Falls Police Department.
