Richard Sagert Threatens Judge, Not Surprisingly Charged for Threatening Judge

• The face of a nonthreatening man. We’d have him over for dinner.

If you’ve ever felt like you’ve gotten the shaft from a judge in court, it’s probably best to keep your deep-seated grudge to yourself. Count to ten, pen a letter and don’t send it, but under no circumstances should you put your anger in writing, threaten a judge, and actually send it to them. That will get you in trouble.

Richard Sagert did not possess such common sense. After years of fighting unsuccessfully for unemployment benefits in court, he could not contain his bitterness towards what he believed were bias and unfair judges. Sagert sent letters to Judge Mark Betleski and others that had a distinctive threatening tone. This was a poor choice.

The Chronicle-Telegram has the details:

Richard Sagert, 45, told Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Mark Betleski in a May 28 letter that “your day is coming.”

In the May letter, as well as numerous other letters he sent to Betleski and retired county Judge Lynett McGough over the years, Sagert complained about losing several court cases involv­ing his efforts to get unemployment benefits.

He also called Betleski a thief and wrote that “if you (expletive) can commit felonies so can I.”

Betleski has declined to comment on the investigation, but told deputies that he was concerned about the letters.

When Sagert was arrested in June, he told deputies that he had sent only “angry” letters and hadn’t threatened anyone.

For the record, your honor, “your day is coming” was not meant in a threatening manner. I just meant your day is coming for ice cream, or rainbows, or the sunniest day you’ve ever seen. That’s all. Honest.

This article appears in Aug 4-10, 2010.