11-4-13 waupun prison inmate-threats against judges

A Waupun Correctional Institution inmate has pleaded not guilty to charges that he sent death threat letters to judges.  35 year old Benjamin Biese is charged in Dodge County Circuit Court with four counts of battery or threat to judge as a repeat offender and three counts of threats to injure or accuse of crime as a repeat offender.  Biese is accused of sending two letters in November 2012 to Dodge County Judge Andrew Bissonnette.  One letter demanded that Bissonnette reverse a sentence or a gang hit would be ordered on him; the other letter purportedly contained anthrax, but was determined to be a non-hazardous substance.  Biese is also accused of sending a third letter in November 2012 to Wisconsin Court of Appeals judge Patricia Curley in Madison, again demanding a reversal of convictions or a hit would be ordered.  And a fourth letter Biese is accused of sending was mailed to the Dodge County Clerk of Courts Office stating that the kill order on Judge Bissonnette was activated, but could be called off if Biese was given 50 thousand dollars.  According to a criminal complaint, Biese allegedly admitted to sending the threats, and also said he wanted to have hits put out on other officials, like U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa in Milwaukee, U.S. Appeals Judge Diane Sykes in Chicago and Department of Corrections Secretary Ed Wall.