By The Oregonian
June 01, 2010, 12:42PM
View full sizeJames Lee StengerJames Lee Stenger, the former TriMet bus driver who is accused of harassing co-workers with threatening e-mail and phone messages, pleaded not guilty this morning in Multnomah County Circuit Court to 41 counts of identity theft, nine counts of aggravated identity theft and seven counts of harassment.The arraignment came just three days after Stenger, 57, arrived in Portland after being extradited from Hawaii. Stenger, who has been living in Thailand for the past few years, was arrested when he landed in Honolulu in early April.
Stenger is being held on $1 million bail, but will face restrictions if he is able to post the 10 percent necessary to be released. Multnomah County assistant district attorney Kevin Demer argued that Stenger has the means and intention to leave the country as soon as he can and that he poses a danger to the community.
Demer said he reviewed on Friday some of Stenger's financial transactions, finding that Stenger had transferred more than $670,000 from a local credit union to a bank in Singapore last August. Stenger also had made statements over the weekend that he had a passport and a valid plane ticket to return to Thailand and wanted to leave the country as soon as possible, Demer told Judge Michael Zusman.
Zusman granted Demer's request for the highest supervision level for Stenger if he is released. In addition, the court will require electronic monitoring and force him to surrender his passport and plane ticket within 24 hours of release.
Demer had previously submitted an affidavit to support the $1 million bail that said Stenger was dangerous. The former TriMet driver, who lost his job after "racially-motivated behavior" in a confrontation with a Beaverton restaurant employee, had sent hundreds of e-mails over the past five years to 12 former co-workers and associates, the affidavit said. Some e-mails included references to guns, the Columbine High School massacre, and other threats.
In one e-mail sent to several of the victims, he wrote "I am still trying to come up with a date for your penalty phase to begin. Hey I picked up this beauty of a gun. It's called a CZ 61. Looks brand new. It's amazing what you can get on the black market here and so cheap. Keep your chins up. I know its (sic) going to get bad for you guys."
Stenger's next appearance on the felony counts is scheduled for next month.
-- The Oregonian
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