Published: March 12, 2008 12:51 pm            

Jury convicts man who threatened city water supply

CLINTON, Iowa — A Clinton County jury has found a Calamus man guilty of making threats to poison the city of Calamus’s water supply.



Deputies arrested Jeffrey A. Soboroff, 57, 193 Second St., last November after he had made a posting to his Web site that he had procured 500 pounds of Thorizine and was going to dump the drug into the city water tower to “calm the population down.”



A Clinton County District Court jury convicted Soboroff on the second day of his trial this week. Sentencing has been set for March 27.



Clinton County Attorney Mike Wolf said making threats is a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. Wolf noted the sentencing judge also has many options, including granting Soboroff a deferred judgment or placing him on probation. He said fines can range from $750 to $7,500 and Soboroff could be ordered to pay restitution to the city of Calamus for the loss of water resulting from draining the city reservoir and water tower.



Jurors saw a video the defendant made when law enforcement agents arrived to search his residence - and later posted on Youtube -



Clinton County Sheriff’s Deputy Jessup Schroeder was the final prosecution witness to take the stand. Schroeder said he was present at the Soboroff residence, 193 Second St., Calamus, to serve the search warrant on Nov. 14. He stated Soboroff had a handheld video camera in his hand when he and Sgt. Steve Cundiff arrived at the door and later posted the video from the camera on the popular Internet video viewer YouTube.



Soboroff asks the deputies if they are “looking for 500 pounds of Thorizine.” Schroeder said a picture of the Calamus water tower, like the photo posted to Soboroff’s Web site, was found as the background on the screen of a Compaq laptop computer. When asked why a search was executed, Schroeder testified that law enforcement officials were seriously concerned there “might be a legitimate threat to the Calamus water tower.”



Under cross-examination by Soboroff’s attorney Bill Vilmont, Schroeder acknowledged that Soboroff had filed complaints against Calamus Public Works Director Duane Levien, and vice-versa, but would not say the two were “hostile” toward each other. Later, Schroeder said that in approximately two years of Soboroff living in Calamus, Schroeder had received several complaints from various Calamus citizens that Soboroff was following them around with a video camera.



Vilmont asked if Schroeder was aware Soboroff had been adjudicated to be “seriously mentally impaired.” Schroeder replied he had known Soboroff went through proceedings, but was not aware of the result of the action and it had not come up during the investigation. When asked about Soboroff’s demeanor during some of the reports Schroeder had responded to, the deputy stated Soboroff was “sometimes fine, sometimes angry.” After questioning by Vilmont, Schroeder stated that deputies did not find evidence that Soboroff was able to carry out the threat or make any attempt at putting a substance in the city water supply.



Vilmont asked if deputies found any evidence to corroborate Soboroff’s ability to contaminate the water supply, to which Schroeder offered the posting on the Web site. Schroeder said he frequently views Soboroff’s Web site, on which Soboroff posts pictures and writings about “things in his life.” Vilmont asked if he found anything on the site to be “satirical, methaphorical or in jest,” and Schroeder replied he did not, but was not sure if everything posted is literal.



When asked if he knew Soboroff had a head injury and had been taking prescription medications for 25 years, Schroeder said he did not know. Schroeder said he did hear the portion of the video when Soboroff claimed the posting was satirical, but noted it “didn’t appear to me to be satirical.” Vilmont questioned why Soboroff was not arrested until the day after the search if the threat was considered serious. Schroeder said it is common practice to apply for an arrest warrant from a judge.



Soboroff took the stand and testified that he began posting information on a Web site after losing friends to cocaine use, which changes the “chemical soup in their brain,” and decided to videotape drug deals to be sent to local law enforcement and authorities did nothing with the videos.



When asked why Soboroff posted the stipulated exhibits in the case, photos of water control buildings and towers with text, on his Web site, Soboroff stated that it related to alleged racial confrontations occurring after he moved to the city.



“I had no idea that a Jew moving into Calamus was like a Jew moving into Germany circa 1938,” Soboroff said.



Danica Baker writes for Clinton (Iowa) Herald.

        

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