Judiciary
Lawyer faces felony charge for allegedly threatening New York judge
A New York lawyer has been arrested after allegedly threatening the judge in his custody case through a series of text messages, including one that said, “I wish you die tonight in a car fire.” (Image from Shutterstock)
A New York lawyer has been arrested after allegedly threatening the judge in his custody case through a series of text messages, including one that said, “I wish you die tonight in a car fire.”
Lawyer Nicholas Leo, 57, of Yonkers, New York, was arraigned Friday on a felony charge of aggravated harassment of a judge and ordered held without bail until his next court appearance. The judge he allegedly targeted is Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Susan Capeci, who presides over Westchester County’s Integrated Domestic Violence Court.
Leo had been a defendant in criminal and matrimonial proceedings before Capeci, who he allegedly began sending threatening communications in late May.
The Mid-Hudson News, the Rockland/Westchester Journal News and the New York Post have coverage.
In one of Leo’s text messages to Capeci, he allegedly told her, “I’m going to beat you,” according to the Mid-Hudson News, which cited the felony complaint. In another message, Leo allegedly said, “I warned you month after month after month. If you take my kids from me for no reason, which you did, it’s not gonna go well,” and “I hope you die.”
“At a time of increasing threats to members of the judiciary, the defendant’s alleged conduct is especially alarming,” Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace said in a statement published by the Mid-Hudson News. “We must never allow this type of conduct to become normalized. The sanctity of our legal process demands nothing less.”
Capeci received a temporary order of protection against Leo, the Mid-Hudson News reports.
Leo is due back in court Wednesday.
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