Peoria Man Sentenced to 42 Months in Federal Prison for Threatening to Assault and Murder a U.S. District Court Judge

PEORIA, Ill. - A Peoria, Illinois, man, Paul Jordan Klawer, 34, was sentenced on August 21, 2024, to 42 months in federal prison for threatening a federal judge. Klawer was also order to serve a three-year term of supervised release upon completion of his term of confinement.

At the sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins, the government established that in May 2022 Klawer was representing himself as a party in a civil rights case pending in federal court in the Central District of Illinois. When Klawer became frustrated with matters in that case, he wrote a series of threatening emails to the lawyer representing the opposing party. In the emails, Klawer made multiple threats, including "tell the judge if he doesn't take my warnings serious…I'll blow his f****** brains out in broad daylight and put on his Tombstone exactly how much value he gave our future by suppressing evidence of misconduct…" Klawer went on to threaten others as well, promising that if his demands in the case were not met, he would commit various violent acts including blowing up the Department of Human Services in Springfield.

Also at the sentencing hearing, Judge Jenkins found Klawer's repeated threats to the judge who was presiding over the civil case were "tremendously serious." Judge Jenkins noted that the threats were "specific, graphic, disgusting, and criminal, and all arising out of the normal and natural progression" of any civil case instituted in the country. Jenkins stated that the messages Klawer sent degrade our justice system, are destabilizing, and are dangerous when directed to people who were fulfilling their role in the larger justice system.

Klawer was arrested in December 2023 after a criminal complaint was filed in federal court. A federal grand jury returned an indictment in mid-December 2023. Klawer initially pled not guilty but entered a change of plea with Judge Jenkins in April 2024. He has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest.

"The judiciary is designed to be insulated from intimidation, harassment, and fear of retribution so judges can render fair, impartial and independent decisions. The defendant's actions were an attack on the justice system itself," said Assistant U.S. Attorney, Ronald L. Hanna. "We will not tolerate actors like Klawer who try to use fear and intimidation to get their way."

The statutory penalties for threatening a federal official are up to 10 years' imprisonment, followed by up to three years of supervised release.

The U.S. Marshals Service; Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office; the Illinois State Police; and the Northbrook, Illinois, Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hanna represented the government in the prosecution.