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UW ‘banned man’ pleads no contest to charges

A man who was arrested in September for violating a court order to stay away from the University of Wisconsin campus was charged with four months in Dane County Jail on Monday.

Albert Wellstein, 52, pled no contest to accusations of violating a restraining order, obstructing an officer and violating a harassment restraining order.

Wellstein was sentenced to a total of four months in jail for obstructing an officer and bail jumping. He was also sentenced to two months for violating the harassment restraining order, but received credit for the 51 days he has served in jail.

According to court documents, the decision was a joint recommendation of District Attorney Timothy Kiefer and the defendant's attorney Michael Covey.

After serving his sentence, Wellstein will remain forbidden from setting foot on UW grounds until May 2011.

"He is still banned from campus, and if we find him on campus, we'll certainly take appropriate police action," UW Police Department Lt. Eric Holen said.

Wellstein had also been accused of allegedly sending UWPD Detective Cheryl Radzinski e-mails threatening her life after she began conducting a harassment investigation regarding Wellstein, in which Radzinski asked him to refrain from contacting Wisconsin Public Television staff members.

"I am going to put you in jail or in your grave," Wellstein wrote in a March 9, 2007 e-mail to Radzinski, according to court documents. In another instance, he wrote, "I have been contacted by WPT about volunteering; I will forward this to them and I hope to hurt you," according to court documents.

Wellstein had previously been accused of a misdemeanor bail jumping and disorderly conduct, both of which were dismissed and read-in, according to court documents.

Wellstein was arrested by UWPD and the Madison Police Department in the Red Gym Sept. 19, after violating a restraining harassment order granted in 2007, in which he received outstanding charges restricting his use of unions on UW lands.

He had previous charges for disorderly conduct on UW lands dismissed in 2004, and his use of UW lands was restricted in early 2005.

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