CHICAGO, ILLINOUS – A man has been indicted on criminal charges for allegedly threatening to assault and murder a federal judge in Chicago.

JOSHUA FARNER, 35, of Marion, Ill., is charged with two counts of mailing threatening communications, and one count of threatening to assault and murder a United States judge.  The indictment was returned Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  Arraignment has not yet been scheduled.

The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Marshals Service.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Misty N. Wright, Kartik K. Raman, and Vincenza Tomlinson.

According to the indictment, Farner on April 18, 2016, mailed a letter to the judge in Chicago threatening to assault and murder the judge.  The indictment accuses Farner of sending the threatening letter to retaliate against the judge and impede, intimidate, and interfere with the judge’s official duties.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.