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Date: 01-24-2024
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Court: The United States Court for the Southern District of Indiana
Plaintiff's Attorney: The United States Attorney’s Office for Indianapolis
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Description:
Patrick Kearney, 41, of Glenview, Illinois, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to two counts of stalking, one count of transmitting threats via interstate commerce, and two counts of making harassing telephone calls.
According to court documents, beginning in September of 2019, and continuing through October 4, 2022, Patrick Kearney engaged in a targeted campaign of stalking, intimidation, and harassment directed towards Victims 1 and 2.
Kearney met Victim 1 in the early 2000s, when they both attended the same university. Kearney pursued a relationship with Victim 1 by trying to walk with her after class, meeting her at her dorm, calling the dorm phone, and leaving mail at her dorm mailbox. Victim 1 did not reciprocate interest in a relationship with Kearney. Victim 1 graduated from college, married her husband, Victim 2, and had not seen Kearney since.
In September of 2019, Kearney began sending Victim 1 anonymous handwritten letters to her home in Indiana, mostly stating that Victim 1 should have died in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The letters typically included pictures or drawings of the World Trade Center burning. Kearney sent approximately 23 handwritten letters to Victim 1 between September of 2019 and September of 2022, all including similar abusive language and most referencing September 11, 2001.
In addition to sending letters, Kearney also began repeatedly calling Victim 1’s cell phone at all hours, leaving threatening voicemails and using different phone numbers to avoid being blocked.
On February 22, 2022, Kearney mailed a package from Arizona to Victim 1’s home. The package contained Raid roach bait and a handwritten note stating, “Here is some poison for you and give the rest to your idiot boyfriend!”
On May 16, 2022, Kearney mailed Victims 1 and 2 a package from Arizona that contained Combat cockroach poison. The package included a note stating that the couple should eat the poison.
On July 11, 2022, at approximately 5:04 am, Kearney called Victim 2 and left a voicemail threatening that “you and her (Victim 1) should be shot in the f****** head.”
As the victims were planning their wedding in 2022, they created a website that included wedding registry information. Kearney began leaving voicemails for Victims 1 and 2 impersonating customer service representatives from Crate & Barrel and Target and threatened to show up at the wedding and ruin it.
Between October of 2019 and September of 2022, Kearney placed approximately 357 phone calls to Victim 1’s cell phone and left over 120 voicemails. Between May of 2022 and August of 2022, Kearney placed approximately 47 phone calls to Victim 2’s cell phone and left at least 35 voicemails.
“This serious federal prison sentence is an appropriate consequence for the defendant’s years’ long campaign of cruel threats and harassment. He chose to terrorize an innocent couple and rob them of safety and peace—driven by his toxic mix of entitlement and resentment,” said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “As we near the end of Stalking Awareness Month, we must raise awareness that stalking crimes can manifest in many forms as our digital world evolves. Even without physical violence, the threat of escalation and fear of the unknown can be deeply traumatizing for victims. These actions are simply unacceptable, and federal law enforcement agencies will work together to identify the perpetrators and hold them accountable.”
“United States Postal Inspectors work diligently to keep U.S. Postal Service customers, and all Americans, safe from criminals who use the U.S. Mail system to further their illegal actions,” said Rodney M. Hopkins, Inspector in Charge for the Detroit Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service. “I commend the collective efforts of the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Indiana and Postal Inspectors in Illinois, Arizona, and Indiana in bringing this individual to justice. His victims can rest assured that the constant threat of harassment and stalking has come to an end.”
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt. Judge Pratt also ordered that Kearney be supervised for three years following his release from federal prison and pay a $500 fine.
U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant United States Attorney Kelsey L. Massa, who prosecuted this case.
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