Barry Ardolf is going to jail for defying a federal judge's order to stay away from computers.
Not only did he have a computer in his home, his daughter's, but his daughter testified Friday that her father had also used another computer in the home and had used a computer at a bookstore, all in violation of conditions of his release pending trial.
There is reason for the computer ban. The Blaine man's use of a computer to allegedly hack into a neighbor's Internet access to harass and smear the neighbor is at the heart of a federal case against him. Ardolf, 45, is accused of threatening Vice President Joe Biden and sending child pornography to the neighbor's co-workers -- all while pretending to be the neighbor.
On June 15, U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank ordered that all computers -- as well as any equipment that could access the Internet -- be removed from Ardolf's home. That included computers owned by his children. If Ardolf violated those conditions, Frank said, he would go to jail.
But on Thursday morning, a probation officer visited Ardolf's home and found a computer in his daughter's room. On Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Franklin Noel held a hearing to determine if Ardolf had violated his release.
At the request of Ardolf's attorney, Katrina Ardolf took the stand to testify that the computer found by probation officers was hers. She said she was packing to leave town, and her father had never told her she could not have a computer in the home.
Then Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Rank asked her if her father had used a computer since June 15.
"Yes," she said, saying she had seen him use a computer in his home and at a Borders bookstore.
