Man charged with harassing witness on Lake County jail phone

A Trevor, Wis., man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges he used a phone at the Lake County jail to repeatedly call a woman he was ordered to not contact.

Robert Westin, 47, faces up to seven years in prison if convicted of harassment of a witness.

Assistant State’s Attorney Steven Derue said a 43-year-old Antioch woman obtained an order of protection against Westin on April 28, the day after he was charged with domestic battery against her.

The woman called Antioch police on June 2, Derue said, complaining she had received multiple calls from the Lake County jail.

Officials checked the jail phone records and found 206 phone calls had been made from the jail to the woman’s home telephone number, Derue said.

Nine of the calls were registered to the personal identification number issued to Westin for making phone calls, Derue said, and 197 were made using the PIN’s of two other prisoners.

Officials determined Westin had obtained the other prisoners’ numbers and was making the calls himself, Derue said.

The woman also received a letter at home on May 11 bearing the return address of a jail prisoner other than Westin, Derue said, but discovered the letter had been written by Westin after she opened the envelope.

Westin is held on $100,000 bond and is due to appear in court July 26.