KEARNEY, Neb. — A Kearney man accused of threatening a police lieutenant and stalking the city’s police chief will be going back to jail.

Judges in both county court and district court handed down sentences in different cases to 59-year-old Marcus Ditchman on Friday afternoon. In district court, Ditchman received two years of probation for a third-degree assault conviction. In county court, he received an identical probation term to be served simultaneously for a misdemeanor stalking conviction. He also received a 90-day jail sentence but might not have to serve all of it.

Friday’s court appearances for Ditchman were once again unconventional in a series of cases that date back nearly two years and were at one point described by a judge as among the most bizarre he’s ever seen.

The county attorney charged Ditchman with terroristic threats in May 2023 in connection to an encounter with a police lieutenant that Ditchman live streamed on social media. He made a plea deal and attended a sentencing hearing in January this year. But instead of issuing the sentence, district judge Patrick Lee ordered a comprehensive psychological assessment to be conducted during a 90-day prison stay. On Friday, Lee issued the probation sentence with atypical stipulations. Ditchman can’t use the internet or social media with the exception of paying bills and accessing email. Probation officers will search his electronics once per week for nine months to enforce the ban. He must also undergo counseling and relapse prevention.

The other case dates back to September 2023. The details behind the stalking charge are sealed by the court, but we know that Police Chief Bryan Waugh and his wife are considered the victims. In court Friday, county judge John Rademacher said it involved Ditchman being outside of Waugh’s home recording video.

Ditchman’s attorney, Dustin Garrison, said he doesn’t believe his client broke the law, despite his no contest plea, and was using his first amendment right to monitor police. He gestured to the more than 20 officers in attendance and said they don’t understand the first amendment. Garrison said officers didn’t like that Ditchman was doing a “first amendment audit” and the charges were purely retaliatory.

County attorney Shawn Eatherton responded by offering a 10-foot long visual aid that showed a timeline of the dozens of times Ditchman contacted Waugh or mentioned him via social media. Eatherton referenced profanity-laced voicemails in which he says Ditchman offered to fight Waugh and pledged to be outside the chief’s house at night.

According to the judge, Ditchman's voicemails to Waugh included phrases like, "Do you feel like a man? Take off your f---ing badge, you dumb piece of s---, come over to my house and see what kind of man you are," and "Come over to my house, just me and you, let's see what you're made of. Guarantee I'll knock your s---... in five minutes flat."

Eatherton argued the prolonged nature of the contacts and context of the situation made the incident outside the chief’s house rise far beyond the scope of the first amendment.

Rademacher admonished Garrison for his argument that Ditchman did nothing wrong. The judge said there was no question in his mind that Ditchman committed the crime of stalking both legally and factually. Rademacher described the case as drug out and said the defense filed frivolous motions. He said Ditchman showed no remorse or responsibility and dragged others into it. He told Ditchman the way to resolved perceived grievances is in a court of law.

“Accusations, threats, words — they’re easy,” Rademacher said. “Proof is a little more difficult.”

The attorneys recommended a sentence of six months probation to be served after the completion of the district court probation. Rademacher instead issued a sentence of two years probation to overlap with the district court sentence so that a violation of one would also violate the other. Additionally, he sentenced Ditchman to 90 days in jail. He gave him credit for five days already served. 75 days of the sentence are set to start January 1 of next year but can be waived if he has complied with the terms of the probation. That leaves 10 days of jail time that will be served starting on May 16.

Rademacher said he was concerned that Ditchman’s actions could inspire followers. He said he went beyond the attorneys’ recommendation and added the jail sentence as a deterrent to the community to discourage others from engaging in similar behaviors.

Waugh was among the officers in attendance. This sentencing comes the same week as Gov. Jim Pillen appointed Waugh to become the next superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. Part of the conditions of Ditchman’s probation include no contact with Waugh or his wife.