CEDAR RAPIDS – A mentally-impaired inmate at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center has been charged with sending a threatening letter to a district court judge working in Johnson County.
Albert W. Weber, 52, was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of mailing threatening communications.
He is accused of sending a letter post-marked Sept. 14 to a Johnson County judge threatening injury to the judge and others, according to the indictment unsealed last week in the U.S. District Court’s Southern District of Iowa.
The indictment does not say which judge received the letter or why Weber may have been upset with the judge.
Weber was convicted in 1995 of voluntary manslaughter for the shaking death of a 4-month-old baby in Dubuque. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Weber has remained behind bars since 1995 because of other charges, including assault and interference with official acts, within the prison system.
Iowa Department of Corrections Spokesman Fred Scaletta confirmed Weber was at the medical and classification center in Coralville in September, when the threatening letter was sent. Corrections officials do not read inmate mail that is “claimed to be and properly addressed as legal mail”, Scaletta said.
Iowa Courts Online does not show that Weber has any Johnson County charges for which he would interact with a judge. Some court matters, such as mental health commitments, are not public record.
U.S. Attorney Spokesman Kevin VanderSchel said he could not provide additional information about the charges, for which the maximum penalty is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Weber was charged with first-degree murder in 1995 after he shook Chelsie Jo Roth, the child of a friend, when he was alone with the baby for an hour. Weber told police at that time he had shaken the child when she wouldn’t stop crying.
The baby was taken to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where doctors determined she had suffered significant brain trauma. She later died.
In July 1995, Weber pleaded guilty to the reduced charges, which helped him avoid a possible life prison sentence if convicted of murder.
The Gazette’s John McGlothlen contributed to this report.
