A resident known for his online presence was sentenced to time served in a case involving Facebook posts. 
Kevin Lindke was sentenced to 272 days in jail, with credit for 272 days served. Sharon Parrish, Lindke’s advisory council, said she believes Lindke will remain in jail for separate litigation in St. Clair County Probate Judge John Tomlinson’s courtroom. 
Before his sentencing, Lindke said he should not have run from police on March 3 when two sheriff deputies gave him verbal commands at his parents’ house in East China. 
In regards to the case involving the social media posts, Lindke said the case raises First Amendment issues. At the time that he posted the messages, he believed the posts were protected under the First Amendment, but he understands now they were not. 
« I believe we’re venturing into some dangerous territory there for allowing some First Amendment protected speech to be criminalized in the way it is, » Lindke said. 
St. Clair County Circuit Court Judge Dan Damman said the case is a byproduct of Lindke’s long history of litigation with the victims, with litigation still to be resolved.
« You are astute, because you’re a smart guy, be careful in how you do things because I think your approach to resolving the issue is going to be viewed just as heavily as your arguments and the law that it encompasses, » Damman said. 
Between October 2020 and February 2021, Lindke said at his plea hearing he posted the phone numbers of two women to his Facebook page titled « Through my Eyes. » Both women reportedly received messages from people unknown to them that, they said, appeared to further harass or even threaten them with violence. 
Lindke pleaded guilty to attempted assaulting, resisting, obstructing a police officer and using computers to commit a crime, both one-year misdemeanors. As part of the plea offer, a count of assaulting, resisting, obstructing a police officer and breaking and entering — illegal entry was dismissed at sentencing. 
In exchange for admitting to the facts of both cases, the case involving the counts of unlawful posting of a message and using computers to commit a crime was also dismissed at sentencing. 
Contact Laura Fitzgerald at (810) 941-7072 or lfitzgeral@gannett.com.

source