MINNEAPOLIS - The man who pleaded guilty to stalking The Current DJ, Mary Lucia, was sentenced Wednesday.
Patrick Henry Kelly, 56, was convicted of making terroristic threats against Lucia, forcing her to take a leave of absence from her job in April. According to authorities, Kelly became obsessed with Lucia, repeatedly visiting her home and leaving notes and keepsakes, despite a restraining order barring him from doing so.
On Wednesday, Kelly was sentenced to 270 days at the Hennepin County workhouse. However, he did get credit for more than 190 days that he's already served. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised probation with conditions, including that he not be within 10 blocks of Lucia's home or workplace. He was then ordered to pay restitution of more than $9,000.
Kelly was released Wednesday morning, because of time off for good conduct.
Lucia attended the sentencing with her two brothers. She gave her victim impact statement, describing how she lived in fear because of Kelly's actions.
"I never opened my windows," she told the court. "I jumped whenever the motion sensors went off. I triple-locked my doors. When I went to bed at night, I slept with a baseball bat and a cell phone near me."
Lucia said she couldn't sleep, or eat. She had panic attacks that would send her to the hospital and felt threatened anytime a stranger approached her.
"My whole sense of self is in question," she said. "It has left me feeling powerless."
Lucia announced her return to The Current airwaves in November, saying the ongoing stalking situation turned her life upside down for the last two years.
"I won't lie, I've been knocked around quite a bit and been forced to accept things I still find unacceptable. I've felt lost and powerless," she wrote to her fans and listeners.
