Monroe County District Attorney Kevin D. Croninger announced Tuesday that on Oct. 3, a Monroe County jury convicted 52-year-old Jacob T. Sell of 15 charges associated with harassment of law enforcement nationwide.
Sell, of La Farge, was charged with four counts of telephone harassment and 11 counts of misdemeanor bail jumping.
The convictions came after a two-day jury trial. The charges stem from Sell making incessant and repeated calls to the Monroe County Communications Dispatch Center and the Cashton Police Departments. The calls from Sell contained a wide range of obscene, profane, and generally abusive language towards the dispatchers and other law enforcement officers/entities, according to the district attorney’s office.
Sell also would routinely conference in law enforcement entities from other states as a means to harass not only Monroe County law enforcement, but also law enforcement in other places, according to the district attorney’s office. The entities Sell conferenced onto calls included Danbury, Conn., police; Sacramento County, Calif., sheriff’s office; Park City, Utah, police; Pewaukee, Wis., dispatch; Columbia County, Wis., dispatch; and several others.
After the two days of trial, the jury deliberated for just over an hour before reaching their verdicts.
Croninger said, “Mr. Sell claims to be a ‘police auditor’; this claim could not be any further from the truth. In reality, Mr. Sell is nothing more than a criminal. We are extremely grateful to the jury on this matter for seeing the truth about Mr. Sell and convicting him.”
The prosecution of the case was handled by Monroe County District Attorney Kevin Croninger with support and assistance by the staff of the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and the Cashton Police Department. Involved officers were Chief Deputy Christopher Weaver, Sergeant Rylan Corcoran, Deputy Steven Krueger and Deputy Mihai David, all of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, and Chief Brente Knutson and Sergeant Dalton Harrington of the Cashton Police Department.
Croninger praised the professionalism of all involved but particularly praised the professional of the dispatchers who had to deal with Sell’s abusive conduct. He said, “All the dispatchers in this case displayed exemplary professionalism. Mr. Sell repeatedly demeaned, berated, and insulted them; despite Mr. Sell’s despicable behavior, the dispatchers remained extremely professional. We are grateful for the work they did on this case and the work they do every day to assist in keeping Monroe County safe.”
At sentencing, Sell faces a maximum sentence of 111 months in jail. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled but will likely occur in December 2025.
