Antisemitic Threats Lead To Probation For Waukegan Man

WAUKEGAN, IL — A Waukegan man who pleaded guilty to threatening an Arizona attorney last year was sentenced Tuesday to six months of house arrest and five years probation.

Kevin Kerr, 51, of the 1700 block of Hyde Park Avenue, sent a series of antisemitic and harassing voicemails and emails to an attorney for a former employer, PRA Health Sciences, which fired Kerr in July 2019, according to court records.

As part of this campaign, Kerr left a voicemail last March telling the attorney he was going to come to Arizona and "rip your Jewish balls in half," according to a transcript of the voicemail Kerr admitted leaving.

"I'm going to kick you in your [expletive] balls, I'm going to rip your skull in half, and then you can have a reason to arrest me," Kerr said.

Daniel Johnson, an FBI agent who investigated the case, interviewed Kerr in September, he said in an affidavit in support of the charges.

Kerr told the agent he was the victim of an elaborate conspiracy that the attorney had started, which involved hacking, surveillance, harassment and "insertion of dopplegangers of Kerr's friends and family," according to Johnson.

Johnson said Kerr also described being victimized by directed energy weapons, a class of munitions that includes high-energy lasers, high-power radio frequency or microwave devices, and charged or neutral particle beam weapons.

While Kerr admitted contacting the attorney, he initially denied sending any threatening or antisemitic communications, the agent alleged.

About two weeks after the interview, Kerr sent an email to the FBI with the subject line "DEWS," a reference to the directed energy weapons, according to the affidavit.

"The Jews are burning my body bad. I have a guy now because it appears they would rather kill me than leave me alone. They already had a guy punch me in the face[.] Tell the Jews they are flirting with the devil. They are the ones who committed all the crimes," he allegedly told the agent.

"They need to get the [expletive] off my phone and quit following me around. I will show up at Pritzker's door and read him the riot act. He ordered hits on me in alleys[.] If he says he didn't he is a liar. He needs to take me off his [expletive] list. I don't believe in Judaism. My choice."

Kerr was arrested later that month and indicted on one count of interstate communications containing a threat and one count of cyberstalking, which was dropped by federal prosecutors in Phoenix as part of the plea deal.

Following a Sept. 24 detention hearing, Magistrate Judge Sunil Harjani ordered that Kerr be jailed ahead of trial, finding that prosecutors had convinced him that Kerr was a danger to others and there were no conditions of release that could assure the safety of the community. He also noted Kerr's "history of violence or use of weapons."

Kerr pleaded guilty in March and was released onto house arrest. He was ordered not to drink alcohol and submit to drug, alcohol and mental health treatment and medications.

As part of the plea deal, Kerr will remain under home confinement for the first nearly six months of his 60 months of probation. He also agreed not to have any contact with the attorney he harassed, that lawyer's firm, Kerr's former employer or any office or employee of any Johnson & Johnson company.