John Diedrich, Staff, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Copyright 2006 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Called “a menace to society,” by a judge Monday, Jon Bartlett was sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison, which officials said should finally get him off the Milwaukee Police Department payroll. Bartlett, 34, was also fined $10,000 and sentenced to five years of probation, all for threatening to blow up his former district station in December and violating bail. A jury found him guilty of the charges earlier this month. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Hansher said he didn’t buy Bartlett’s explanation that he tried to buy two guns and 800 rounds of ammunition 10 days prior to his bomb threat trial because he wanted to go target shooting to relieve stress.
Bartlett, who said Monday he was nearly broke, charged nearly $5,000 for the guns and ammunition to his credit card. “It is clear you had something big planned, suicide by cop or attempting to go after (Police) Chief Nan Hegerty. . . . I find you are a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any second,” Hansher told Bartlett, who also has been in court in recent months accused of wrongfully shooting to death a suspect and of participating with a mob of off-duty officers in the 2004 beating of Frank Jude Jr.
Because of a state law that applies only to Milwaukee police and advocated by the politically powerful police union, city taxpayers were forced to pay Bartlett his full salary and benefits since he was fired along with eight other officers in May 2005 for their roles in the Jude incident. Since then, he has received more than $100,000 in pay and benefits, said Mayor Tom Barrett. Police told the mayor Monday that Bartlett was off the payroll.
“From the taxpayers’ point of view, the nightmare is over,” Barrett said. Legislation to change the law and stop paying fired Milwaukee police officers died last fall when all Republicans on the committee voted against it.
Bartlett’s bomb threat case brought back a compromise version of the bill, legislators said. But the compromise was blocked. A more limited version, which the author and the city opposed, passed the Assembly but died before coming to the Senate. The bill is expected back next year.
Bartlett finally came off the city payroll Monday under a separate state law that says an officer convicted of a felony has “vacated” his position. Wearing prison garb and with his handcuffed wrists shackled around his waist, Bartlett testified he has had problems with drinking alcohol and apologized for the “divisions” his actions have caused in the Police Department and the city. Bartlett also said he has been vilified in the news media by false reports about his background. He said he has been sober for six weeks and has found comfort in “reconnecting to God.”
“My outlook on life has totally changed,” said Bartlett, who is being held at the Dodge County Jail on the federal charges. “I will not be a threat to society in any way.” His attorney, Gerald Boyle, said his client is not a menace but came to court expecting the maximum penalty.
“There was no, ‘Poor me,’ ” Boyle said. “He knew what was going to happen today.” Hegerty testified Monday that Bartlett’s threat in December 2005 made every officer uneasy because they knew about Bartlett’s charges in the Jude case. “That made his bomb threat more credible than others,” Hegerty said. Deputy District Attorney Jon Reddin asked for the maximum penalty. Afterward, he said, “I think he is a dangerous guy.”
Bartlett still faces state felony charges of substantial battery in the Jude case and bail jumping and federal charges for trying to buy the two guns earlier this month while facing felony charges. In addition, the Jude beating outside an off-duty police officer party in Bay View in October 2004 remains under investigation by federal authorities.
In the Jude case, Bartlett was acquitted in April of recklessly endangering safety, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict on a charge of substantial battery. Two other fired officers were acquitted of all charges. At a civil trial in May, a federal jury found that Bartlett did not use excessive force when he fatally shot Larry Jenkins while on duty in 2002.
At Bartlett’s request, the bomb threat trial was moved out of Milwaukee because of publicity surrounding the Jude trial and acquittals. At trial in Madison, Bartlett admitted to calling a former partner and his district station eight times during a night of drinking Dec. 1, 2005, but testified he didn’t call District 7, his former station.
But an officer at that district testified Bartlett called and said there was a bomb in the station and then repeated the threat. A Dane County jury convicted Bartlett on Aug. 15 after deliberating about 30 minutes.
Copyright 2006, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)