Former police officer Matthew Elser appears with his appointed defense attorney, Rhys Cartwright-Jones, before pleading guilty Thursday in Lisbon to multiple charges related to threats he made against five victims, including a judge and the prosecutor’s office. He’ll face sentencing at 1 p.m. July 22. (Photo by Mary Ann Greier)

LISBON — A former police officer accused of making threats against a judge, the prosecutor’s office and three others agreed to a plea deal Thursday, with sentencing set for 1 p.m. July 22.

Matthew Elser, 45, Market Street, Columbiana, appeared in the custody of a deputy sheriff for the plea hearing in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court before Retired Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court Judge Edward Emmett O’Farrell, who was appointed as visiting judge for the case.

Elser was accompanied by his appointed defense attorney, Rhys Cartwright-Jones, with the state represented by Special Prosecutor Edward A. Czopur, who was assigned to the case. Columbiana County judges and the prosecutor’s office all cited conflicts of interest.

“Yes, your honor, I’m guilty,” was Elser’s plea to all the charges outlined in the plea agreement, which was a joint agreement to resolve the case.

The charges for the plea included two counts of intimidation and four counts of retaliation, all third-degree felonies, and single counts of aggravated menacing and unlawful restraint, both misdemeanors, for a total of eight counts. As part of the deal, five counts of telecommunications harassment and four counts of aggravated menacing, all misdemeanors, will be dismissed.

Czopur explained he’ll be recommending an 18-month sentence, but with credit for the one year Elser has already served in jail and at Heartland Behavioral Healthcare, leaving six months to serve either at the Eastern Ohio Correction Center if he’s accepted there or the county jail. He’ll also be placed under community control for five years as part of the recommendation. The sentence won’t include any time at a state prison.

Czopur said he spoke with all of the victims about what was happening, with some of them present in the courtroom and some not.

“All of them are in agreement with the resolution,” he said.

After the hearing, Czopur also said it was important to get a conviction related to each of the victims.

“Allegations of threats against anybody are always taken seriously,” he said.

Elser never faced arraignment on the charges, with requests for psychiatric evaluations requested after he was served with the secret indictment last year. In October, he was ordered hospitalized at Heartland Behavioral Healthcare in Massillon after O’Farrell found he was not competent to stand trial, noting that he was not capable of understanding the nature and objective of the legal proceedings against him and not capable of assisting in his defense of the criminal charges.

At that time, O’Farrell also found a reasonable probability that the defendant could be restored to competency to stand trial within the six-month time period allow by law. In March, Elser was found competent, but then was ordered evaluated for sanity. He was recently found sane, prompting the scheduling of the plea hearing.

According to the indictment, the unlawful restraint charge dates back to Oct. 10, 2024 when Elser allegedly restrained a woman of her liberty at a house in Columbiana. He was charged with the unlawful restraint in county Municipal Court and while that case was pending, on June 24, 2025, the victim in the case came to the police station in Columbiana to report receiving multiple unwanted phone calls from Elser.

The police affidavit noted that “the victim states that in these messages the defendant threatened to kill her, her family members, and the judge and prosecutor of his case.” At that time, one count of misdemeanor telecommunications harassment was filed. The judge in question was county Municipal Court Judge Tim McNicol. The indictment was served on Elser in July 2025 with those charges plus additional charges. All the charges in the plea, with the exception of the unlawful restraint, stemmed from June 24, 2025 when the threats were made.

During the plea hearing, O’Farrell explained all of the rights Elser was giving up by entering a plea and he indicated he understood everything he was being told regarding his rights and the possible penalties. The maximum possible penalty for the third-degree felony charges is 36 months, plus they could be ordered served consecutively.