Rap artist pleads guilty to threatening DuPage judge

An amateur rap artist from Villa Park was sentenced Monday to six months in jail for threatening a DuPage County judge whose admonishments left the defendant in tears.

Jonovan Brown, 21, who raps under the name Jayo, according to his MySpace page, pleaded guilty to threatening a public official in exchange for the jail term and 30 months’ probation. He could have faced two to five years in prison if convicted of the felony offense at trial, prosecutors said.

Assistant State’s Attorney Diane Michalak said Brown told a sheriff’s deputy he would kill Judge Robert Kleeman after the judge threatened to hold Brown in contempt of court for a “profanity-laced tirade” at a March 12 bond hearing in Wheaton. She said the comments about the judge came as Brown was led out of court in tears.

“He threatened to make the judge cry if he ever saw him out on the street,” Michalak said.

The episode capped days of mounting legal trouble for Brown, who remains charged in three other incidents, which took place less than a week apart, according to court records.

In one case, Brown is accused of whipping an 8-month-old pit bull with a chain and throwing the female dog against a tree on March 6. That same day, he also was charged with threatening to shoot a man and woman at a Villa Park car dealership.

Brown was charged again on March 12 after allegedly shooting out a window at his listed address on the 500 block of North Yale Avenue with an air gun shortly before 3 a.m.

As part of Monday’s plea agreement, Brown agreed to receive mental health services and take medication, Michalak said. She added Brown previously was convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession and violating an order of protection.

Brown, who’s been in jail on $100,000 bail since March, received credit for 101 days already served.