Man charged with sending threatening letter pleads not guilty in Lake County court
A Milwaukee man charged with sending a threatening letter to a Lake County government office referencing a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, pleaded not guilty Wednesday.
Timothy Hoeller, 57, pleaded not guilty in front of Judge Mark Levitt. Hoeller is facing up to five years in prison if found guilty at trial of threatening a public official.
Levitt set a Sept. 17 trial date. Attorney Renea Amen said in court she is working on a negotiated settlement with prosecutors and is scheduled an Aug. 29 meeting with Levitt to go over the case.
Hoeller is accused of writing a letter saying he was displeased with a recent electronic filing he made at the circuit court clerk's office. In the letter, he stated his intention was to "scare" the recipients and referenced the Florida school shooting, authorities said.
Authorities refused to disclose the specific language used in the letter.
Sheriff's detectives obtained an $750,000 arrest warrant for Hoeller after officials received the letter in March.
Hoeller was being held in Waukesha County jail in Wisconsin for threatening officials at Carroll University, where he once served as an adjunct professor.
In that case, he entered an Alford plea, in which Hoeller maintained his innocence but conceded the prosecution could prove its case, to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and was sentenced to time served. Fox 6 News reported.
In the Wisconsin letter, Hoeller called the Parkland shooter "his hero," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported.