Charges of threatening Trudeau from Sarnia fast-food chain stayed against US man

Charges laid in Ontario against a Texas man, accused of emailing death threats targeting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from a Sarnia fast-food restaurant, have been stayed following his extradition back to the US, where he is facing charges in multiple states.

Jeremy Joseph, a 40-year-old Houston man living in a Sarnia homeless shelter, was arrested Feb. 4 and charged with two counts of threatening to cause death or bodily harm and one count of threatening to cause damage to property.

The email, allegedly called, ‘I am going to kill Justin Trudeau,’ included alleged gun and bomb threats to the country’s leader and his supporters living in Sarnia. It was allegedly sent from one of the border city’s McDonald’s.

Joseph, a former Wall Street banker who’s battled addictions and mental-health issues, was briefly granted bail in Sarnia, but was back in custody soon after due to four outstanding arrest warrants in three different US states. He was denied bail at a second hearing in London featuring a lawyer from the Attorney General of Canada.

Joseph, who represented himself, made more than a dozen court appearances from the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Center in London and the Sarnia Jail amid an ongoing extradition hearing for the US charges and plans to go to trial on the Sarnia charges this past Wednesday.

But the day before the trial, assistant Crown attorney Nicole Godfrey asked Justice Krista Lynn Leszczynski to stay the charges.

“It is my conclusion today that public interest is best addressed by my staying of the criminal charges against Mr. Joseph. That would facilitate his removal from Canada. He will be returned to the United States to face prosecution there,” she said. “He will not face a trial here in Canada.”

Godfrey noted she confirmed through her colleagues at the US Department of Justice that staying the charges wouldn’t prevent his removal from Canada. She added he also wouldn’t be permitted to come back into the country.

Joseph agreed to sign a waiver of extradition on May 26 in another Sarnia courtroom. Superior Court Justice Kirk Munroe repeatedly cautioned Joseph about signing the waiver and explained it will open him up to being prosecuted on any outstanding charges in the US

“I understand,” he responded at the time.

There were four outstanding arrest warrants for Joseph in three US states, including two in Texas: one for aggravated assault and another for interstate threats to a judge and others. Joseph is also facing interstate threats charges in New York, allegedly linked to two of his former co-workers at Morgan Stanley, and an arson charge in San Francisco.

All but the arson charge allegedly took place while he was living in Sarnia.

“It’s very much a tainted story all connected to my mother’s estate and getting money,” Joseph previously told a judge, alleging his cousins ​​have stolen his identity. “Identity is very critical here.”

Joseph came into Canada in August via the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and stayed in a Salvation Army-run shelter in Windsor until moving to Sarnia in November. The alleged threats to people living in New York, Houston, Ottawa and Sarnia all were made in December and January.

Joseph, a well-educated man with a master’s degree in bio-engineering and a degree from Stanford graduate school of business, has said threatening emails sent to people with racist language doesn’t fit his identity.

“Not only does not fit my identity, but shows you that identity is critical,” he said. “These are allegations about my identity being misused.”

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@ObserverTerry