'Taking Out' a Judge ... and His Family

May 3, 2007 — -- It's the latest trend in domestic terror, and it's keeping the U.S. Marshals Service up nights: threats against judges.

Tuesday, an Ohio man and woman were each sentenced in federal court to 10 years for plotting to kill a judge and his family, after the judge sentenced the couple to a few days in jail for failing to file taxes.

The case highlights what the marshals service says is a growing and troubling problem: Threats against U.S. judges have quadrupled in the last decade. Last year there were more than 800 threats against sitting judges.

The Ohio plot, which was caught on tape and used as evidence against John Sands and his fiancee, Dawn Holin, was as meticulous as it was malicious.

"The kids are gonna die with him," Sands is heard saying on tape. "That's called victims of the situation he created. That's called street justice, man."

As the only judge in Painesville, Ohio, Michael Cicconetti has the final word. Whether he's ruling on a parking ticket, a domestic dispute or driving under the influence, "Judge Mike," as he is known, seems more like your favorite uncle than a stern disciplinarian. He's been known to mete out justice with a smile and some friendly advice.

But over the summer, this small-town judge got a big-city shock, when police detectives met him in a parking lot and pulled out a small audiotape recorder.

"They said, 'I want you to listen to this,'" Cicconetti said, "and I heard someone saying that they wanted to bomb my house. … They were going to come in and kill me and my family. I go, 'Whoa.'"

Police had uncovered an elaborate plot to kill not only Cicconetti, but also the mayor and the prosecutor. Sands and Holin, the alleged perpetrators, ran a small auto repair shop in town, Cicconetti was told. He barely remembered the couple.

"If you asked me to give a list of 30 or 40 people you think might do something to harm [me], they would not have been on that list," Cicconetti told ABC News' Law & Justice Unit . "They wouldn't have been close to the Top 100 on that list."