Wisconsin ax maker charged with threatening Gov. Evers strikes plea deal to lesser offense

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By Steve Schuster

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A Wisconsin ax maker charged with making a threat against Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and several Dane County officials pleaded guilty to a lesser offense Wednesday.

According to the plea deal, Michael A. Yaker of Windsor, Wis. plead guilty for making a threat against a county official, according to court documents.

According to the Federal criminal complaint obtained by the Wisconsin Law Journal, Yaker had sent emails and Facebook messages threatening to harm Gov. Evers as well as Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett, Madison Police Detective Greg Esser, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi, The Dane County Board, and then-Highway Commissioner Gerald Mandli.

On the Ides of March, Federal prosecutors filed an 8 count superseding indictment charging Yaker with making threats. The initial two count indictment filed back in November of 2022 charged Yaker with using electronic communications threatening to injure a Wisconsin citizen, for the purpose of issuing threats and knowingly transmitting in interstate commerce communications containing threats to
injure the person of another.

As a part of the plea agreement, seven out of eight counts of the superseding indictment were dismissed, including the charges for making multiple threats against Gov. Evers.

Yaker who has been known to carry an ax, believed he would be receiving the contract to build a park shelter at Scheidegger Forest County Park.

However, Yaker who also works as a timber framer did not receive the contract and had disputes with several Dane County Officials after losing the bid, according to the criminal compliant.

In the threatening email to Gov. Evers, Yakers wrote “I’d like to have my hands around his throat … I’d like to bash his head against a concrete wall … I’d like to have his blood on my hands … see his blood drain down the gutter.”

In a threatening Facebook post about Gov. Walker, Yaker wrote, “Dead man walking … My purpose, my passion is to destroy the state of Wisconsin … it’s a good day to die … Tony Evers is a marked man.”

The threats follow the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Whitmer.

U.S. Attorney Tim O’Shea and Yaker’s attorney reached agreement on a year and a day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. However, his guilty plea to count one of the superseding indictment carries maximum penalties of five years in prison and a $250,000 for his violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 875(c).

A hearing has been set for June 22 with U.S. District Judge James Peterson.