Utica Man Indicted for Threatening to Physically Harm Town Judge

An Oneida County grand jury has handed down an indictment against a Utica man for allegedly threatening a local town Judge with physical harm.

The Oneida County Sheriff's Office announced the indictment and subsequent arrest Wednesday of 40-year-old Jeremy D. Ibanez of Utica. The indictment stems from a complaint taken by the Oneida County Sheriff's Office back on July 29th, 2024. Oneida County Sheriff Rob Maciol says a Deputy with the Law Enforcement Division Uniform Patrol took a complaint about an incident that happened on July 22nd in Whitestown Town Court.

Maciol says, Ibanez was accused of making threats towards the presiding Judge in Whitestown. After the complaint was taken, the Deputy handed the case over to the Criminal Investigation Unit for further investigation. The probe revealed that Ibanez allegedly used vulgar language, racial slurs and threatened to inflict physical harm on the presiding Judge. At the conclusion of the investigation, the case was then handed over to the Oneida County District Attorney's Office and that is when it ultimately ended up in the hands of the grand jury.

Officials say the grand jury convened on October 9th and returned an indictment on one count of Making a Terroristic Threat, a Class D Felony. From there, Maciol says a warrant for Ibanez's arrest was issued by a Superior Court Judge and turned over to the Oneida County Sheriff's Office Warrants Unit.

Ultimately, Sheriff Maciol says Ibanez was apprehended on October 15th, 2024 without incident. Following his arrest, Ibanez was arraigned in Oneida County Court and remanded to the Oneida County Correctional Facility in lieu of $20,000 Cash Bail, $40,000 Insurance Bail Bond, and a $100,000 Partially Secured Bond.