Westchester Man Guilty Of Threatening Town Supervisor

GREENBURGH, NY — A Westchester County man was sentenced for making threats against a town supervisor. District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino Jr. said Friday Timothy Goetze, 44, of White Plains, was found guilty of three counts of second-degree aggravated harassment, misdemeanors, for threats made against Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner and his family in 2017.

The verdict against Goetze was delivered Thursday following a bench trial before Judge Jo Ann Friia in White Plains City Court.

Friia sentenced him to a one-year conditional discharge with 75 hours community service and orders of protection for Feiner, his wife and his daughter.

Scarpino said the verdict against Goetze illustrated how justice is sought whenever there is a threat to a public figure or any resident of Westchester.

"Threatening messages will always be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," he said. "Let anyone who might make such threats know we will go after them. We hope the Feiner family family can now rest easier."

Greenburgh police investigated three threatening emails sent anonymously in August 2017 to Feiner. The emails were prompted by a controversy regarding a Confederate monument at a private cemetery.

The content of the three emails was identical, authorities said, but each contained a different subject line and numerous profanities and anti-semitic slurs.

Police said the final sentence said Feiner should "run and hide" and that "We are coming for you and your family."

It was signed by "Anti-Zionist."

While the emails did not contain Goetze's name, the investigation found he was the sender, police said.

In court, his sole defense was First Amendment free-speech grounds.

The court ruled against that theory, saying the emails were not just political statements, but largely a personal attack on Feiner and his family and constituted a "true threat," the district attorney's office said.

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