Marblehead man gets four years in jail for making threatening calls

SALEM – A Marblehead man who admitted to making threatening phone calls to a mother and a 16-year-old Marblehead boy who reported an attack by his brother, was sentenced to four years behind bars.Zachary Patrick Ehlert, 22, of 12 Reed St., confessed Thursday in Salem Superior Court before Judge John T. Lu to two counts of witness intimidation.Ehlert was sentenced to serve 30 months in the House of Corrections on one count of intimidation involving a phone call to the 16-year-old victim and given 18 months for a phone call he made to the youth’s mother, threatening her not to pursue the assault case against his younger brother Michael Ehlert.On Oct. 29, Michael Ehlert, 18, and Michael D. Leoni, 18, confronted the then 16 year old and dragged him by the throat to a nearby cemetery where he was choked and robbed. The two men then forced the teenager to take them to his house on Ramsey Road and give them his iPod.The boy suffered several injuries, including a concussion, bleeding in his eye and numerous bruises around the throat.The mother delayed on reporting the incident, in fear of retaliation, but later filed after she sent her son to live in California with relatives.Michael Ehlert is currently serving three and a half months in jail and Leoni was handed 18 months. Both will be on probation when they get out.Assistant District Attorney Kristen R. Buxton said that on Nov. 7, four hours after the arrest of his younger brother, Zachary made a phone call to the mother of the victim. He said, “Hello, my name is Zachary Ehlert and just want to let you know I hope you are very comfortable home at 14 Ramsey Road. I think you are making a large mistake accusing my brother of such a crime.”Three days later, on Nov. 10, the older Ehlert called the victim’s cell phone in California and said, “You’re making a huge mistake telling people my brother kidnapped you.”Buxton said the calls caused “significant concern and distress” to the parties and that they were very fearful given the reputation the Ehlerts have within the community.Buxton told Lu that the older Ehlert has been in the criminal system since age 12 and has committed robbery and been involved in street gang incidents.Buxton went on to explain further that the first phone call to the mother only four hours after his brother was arrested further traumatized them since they were already “substantially fearful” in coming forward in the first place.The older Ehlert had fled Massachusetts following the incidents and was arrested later in Florida, Buxton said.Defense lawyer John P. Morris pointed out his client was not involved in the beating and that he had told him he was “highly intoxicated” when he made those calls, but that does not mitigate him for making them, he said.Because Ehlert was sentenced to the House of Corrections instead of state prison, Ehlert could be eligible for parole after serving about two years.The judge credited him the 231 days he has spent at the Middleton Jail awaiting trial on the case.