Michael Ingold’s bond in a case involving the threat to public officials was reduced June 29 from $250,000 cash to $10,000.
Christopher Restemayer, Ingold’s new attorney, argued for a $250,000 signature bond, noting that at the time the bond was set Ingold was still charged with first-degree homicide in the death of his live-in girlfriend. Ingold was acquitted by a jury at the end of April.
Ingold has been in the Shawano County Jail for almost four years, since the homicide charge was made in 2022, and Restemayer noted that Ingold did not have any criminal record prior, with his only encounter with courts being a traffic ticket. Ingold had a case in 2020 where he was charged with strangulation and suffocation, second-degree recklessly endangering safety, battery and operating a firearm while intoxicated, but those charges were dismissed.
Restemayer told Portage County Circuit Court Judge Louis Molepske Jr. that Ingold has never had any issues showing up for court and said that should be a factor in deciding bond.
“My client has no interest in seeing any of those people (in the indictment), much less taking them out,” Restemayer said. “I think no contact would be sufficient to protecting the victims in those cases. I would ask to reduce bond given the amount time he’s been in jail to a signature bond.”
Ingold, 61, faces five counts of threatening prosecutors, three counts of threats to law enforcement officers and two counts of threatening bodily harm to people involved with the court or legal system.
Because of the threats involving people with the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department and the Shawano-Menominee County District Attorney’s Office, the case is being managed by special prosecutor Eric Sparr with Winnebago County. Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court Judge William Kussel Jr. recused himself.
Each of the charges face maximum prison sentences of six years and maximum fines of $10,000.
Winnebago County District Attorney Eric Sparr admitted the risk is less now that Ingold has been acquitted in a capital crime, but the threats that comprise the current case are still serious and do not warrant a signature bond. He noted that Ingold had been informed that he should not be making threats against public officials but allegedly did it anyway.
“The threats were explicit, and they were repeated to multiple individuals,” Sparr said.
The evidence comes from seven phone calls made at the Shawano County Jail from January 2025 to July 2025, as well as a couple of in-person conversations at the jail in June 2025 and December 2025, according to the criminal complaint.
A detective monitored the recorded jail calls and reported that, in one call made Jan. 28, 2025, Ingold allegedly said he wanted to hang two of the victims.
Two calls in March had Ingold alleged saying that, if he got out of jail, he was going to do something terrible to three of the victims and that has has no problem killing someone, according to the complaint.
During a call made April 18, 2025, Ingold allegedly told the person he was calling: “I’d kill (the third victim). I’d kill all of them. I’d beat ‘em with a baseball bat, and I’d enjoy every (expletive) second of it.” According to the complaint, Ingold allegedly went on to say he was having dreams about torturing the victims, going so far as to mention a drone and explosives.
When the person on the other end of the line allegedly warned Ingold not to talk like that for fear that it could be taken seriously, Ingold allegedly said “Let ‘em take it seriously,” according to the complaint, and claimed the victims were “crooked.”
Following a court hearing June 20, 2025, Ingold returned to the jail and spoke with the booking officer, and during the course of the conversation, he allegedly said that he’d like to skin one of the prosecutors alive.
A jail inmate allegedly told detectives on Dec. 15, 2025, that Ingold had been making threats against the detective, claiming that Ingold said he used to run drugs for the Magnetos biker gang, serving as a truck driver, and that the gang “owed him favors,” according to the complaint.
Detectives looked at jail videos from three days earlier, where Ingold allegedly said he was going to break one of the detective’s bones and “give him a lobotomy,” according to the complaint. Ingold allegedly said when all the things were going to happen, he would be in Arizona.
Sparr said that the fact that Ingold walked out of the holding area at the jail at his previous hearing without permission from the judge should be a factor when deciding bond.
Ingold told Molepske during the hearing that he sold his home and vehicles to pay for expenses related to the homicide. All he would have as collateral is his property, which is about a half-acre and has a garage on it, but he owes back taxes for the last two years and the Internal Revenue Service has a lien on the property.
Molepske said that the allegations are serious enough that having some cash was warranted and ruled $10,000 for the case, although he may revisit bond after a preliminary hearing. He also dismissed the contempt of court sentence of 10 additional days in jail, expressing dismay that Ingold has already been held in jail for almost four years.
“Long and short, he is already in custody so he has served the 10 days, so I’m not going to require an additional 10 days,” Molepske said.
The preliminary hearing on the current charges will take place at 3 p.m. July 27 at the Shawano County Courthouse, courtroom to be determined.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
