An Albuquerque man accused of sending threatening and obscene emails to weatherman-turned-politician Mark Ronchetti and his wife has been sentenced to serve 18 months in federal prison as part of a plea agreement with the US Attorney’s Office in Albuquerque.
Stephen Yochim, 48, had been charged with transmitting threatening interstate communications after he was suspected of sending a series of profanity-laced emails in January 2021 that Ronchetti and his wife considered a “direct threat,” according to a criminal complaint filed in the US District court
He pleaded guilty to one count of stalking, according to a plea agreement, and was sentenced March 7 to serve 18 months in prison followed by three years of supervised parole, according to sentencing documents. He’ll also be required to pay a $5,000 fine.
Sentencing documents indicate Yochim was out of custody at the time of the sentencing and was ordered to surrender himself to authorities within 60 days, at which time court personnel recommend he be incarcerated at Federal Medical Center, a prison in Forth Worth, Texas, for male inmates with special medical and mental health needs.
Yochim’s attorney, Jason Bowles, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Friday.
The highly graphic messages threatened physical violence against Ronchetti and expressed “morbid joy at the prospect of cancer affliction [his wife],” The US Attorney’s Office wrote in a news release at the time.
Ronchetti is a Republican gubernatorial hopeful who lost the US Senate race in 2021 to Democrat Ben Ray Luján.
He previously worked as a meteorologist for KRQE-TV.
“Included in the profane terms directed toward the family was the repeated use of an ethnic slur,” according to the news release.
The emails also included crude remarks about the couple’s daughters, a criminal complaint said.
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