Federal Charges Dropped Against Ozark County Man

A man from Ozark County accused of leaving a threatening message for an Arizona election official had his charges dropped in federal court.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice release posted by Ozarks First, 50-year-old Walter Lee Hoornstra of Tecumseh was charged in 2022 with one count of communicating an interstate threat and one count of making a threatening phone call.

The indictment says Hoornstra left a voicemail containing a threat to the personal cell phone of an election official in Maricopa County, Arizona in May 2021. He would’ve faced up to seven years in prison if convicted.

According to a statement from Hoornstra’s attorney, a U.S. attorney argued for the federal court to dismiss the charges against Hoornstra without prejudice, stating that there were issues with an important witness that they said would make a conviction unlikely.

More on the story can be found at the Ozarks First Website.

(Story by Drew Tasset, Ozarks First)