Man gets one year for threatening attorneys
A 43-year-old Brookfield man will spend a year behind bars for sending threats to prominent attorneys Franklyn Gimbel and David Gruber, a judge ruled Monday.
James C. Faustmann entered into a plea agreement last week after his first trial resulted in a mistrial when a juror skipped out during deliberations.
The anonymous anti-Semitic rants at the center of the case included a threat to kill Gimbel and to have Gruber’s adult son murdered. During the first trial, detectives explained how they traced the messages, sent a year and a half apart, back to a computer owned by Faustmann and one he appeared to use.
At trial, Gimbel and Gruber each testified they had never felt so threatened or alarmed as by the messages. On Monday, both again addressed the court and said Faustmann should be punished for his actions.
“I think this man needs to hear the clink of a jail door behind his ear and understand what punishment is,” Gimbel said.
“Because he in his own bizarre and outrageous way has imposed a kind of a punishment on the families and business associates of myself and other folks in the community that he’s targeted with his threats,” he continued.
Faustmann’s attorney, Mitchell James Barrock, said the case was “far more complex” than it appeared. He noted Faustmann’s military service in the U.S. Air Force and Army and said his client had some mental health issues.
Barrock said Faustmann never intended to harm either attorney.
Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Lindsay said Faustmann had a pattern of behavior, having been charged in Racine County with sending threats to Gov. Scott Walker.
“Over the course of almost four years, he’s picked up, at this point, eight criminal charges resulting in now five criminal convictions,” Lindsay said. “That’s a pretty drastic escalation for somebody of his age.”
Before handing down the sentence, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jean Kies read the profanitylaced emails Faustmann had sent to the attorneys.
“Mr. Faustmann, your words are vile, they’re repugnant and they’re reprehensible,” she said.
Faustmann will serve his sentence at the House of Correction in Franklin and will have release privileges to go to work and counseling.