Dusan Mladen, Threatening a Judge, Connecticut 2017

Dusan Mladen, 63, of Hartford, is going to prison for five years after threatening a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge and lying to federal agents during the investigation. The sentence, handed down today by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer in New Haven, includes 60 months behind bars, three years of supervised release, and a $20,000 fine.

Mladen, also known as David Mladen, was a litigant in a bankruptcy case involving Eternal Enterprise, Inc., a company he formerly owned and continued to manage. The company holds several residential properties in Hartford and has been under federal bankruptcy proceedings in Connecticut. The case turned violent when judicial boundaries were crossed.

On July 5, 2017, the judge overseeing the Eternal Enterprise matter found an anonymous handwritten note in her home mailbox. It read “BACK OFF,” “YOU ARE OVERSTEPPING AUTHORITY,” and “JUST WARNING FOR NOW.” The threat was not taken lightly—federal protections for judges exist for a reason, and this crossed the line.

Five days later, on July 10, the same judge received a call at her private home number. The caller said, “I left a message for you,” and referenced a visit to her house the previous week. He demanded she extend a deadline in the case to September 30, adding, “then maybe everything will be ok.” Though he refused to name himself, the judge recognized the voice: Dusan Mladen.

U.S. Marshals confirmed the call came from a cell phone purchased by Mladen under a fake name and placed near his residence at the time. When deputies interviewed him on July 11, Mladen denied visiting the judge’s home, making the call, or having her number—all lies. A court-authorized search of his car revealed her home address programmed into his GPS. Investigators also found Mladen had been armed when delivering the note.

Mladen has been in custody since his arrest on July 11, 2017. On October 13, he pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to federal law enforcement. The U.S. Marshals Service led the investigation with help from the Connecticut Department of Correction. Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Nardini prosecuted the case, ensuring accountability for a crime that struck at the heart of the federal judiciary.

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