HONESDALE, WAYNE COUNTY — The Waymart man who sent an antisemitic email threatening to exterminate Jewish people — then watched as an innocent Hawley woman was arrested for it — walked out of Wayne County Court of Common Pleas on April 9 without spending a single day behind bars.
John Andrew Maddi, 40, of Clinton Township near Waymart, was sentenced by President Judge Janine Edwards to 18 months of probation with 90 days of house arrest after pleading guilty to ethnic intimidation and identity theft. Both charges were first-degree misdemeanors — reduced from the third-degree felonies Maddi originally faced when he was charged in December.
Of the 19 criminal counts filed against him, Maddi pled guilty to two.
The Plea Deal
Court records obtained by The Pocono Review from the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System show the case moved through Wayne County Court in under four months.
Maddi originally faced three third-degree felonies — two counts of ethnic intimidation and one count of criminal use of a communication facility — each carrying up to seven years in state prison. Below those sat first-degree misdemeanor charges for terroristic threats, forgery, and identity theft, plus third-degree misdemeanors for harassment, disorderly conduct, and unlawful email transmission.
On February 19, Maddi entered his plea before Judge Edwards. The lead ethnic intimidation count was downgraded from a felony to a misdemeanor. A second felony ethnic intimidation count was dismissed. He pled guilty to one count of identity theft at the misdemeanor level.
The remaining 17 charges — including both felony criminal use of communication facility counts, two terroristic threats, two forgery counts, four harassment charges, and the rest — were left on the table with no guilty plea entered and no sentence imposed. As The Pocono Review previously reported, Pennsylvania’s criminal charging system gives state troopers wide latitude to file charges without prior prosecutor approval — the same system that allowed PSP Honesdale to charge Carl with felonies in 48 hours. Defense attorney James P. Baron of Milford handled the plea negotiations.
The Sentence
After a pre-sentence investigation and one continuance, Edwards imposed the sentence on April 9.
On the ethnic intimidation conviction: 18 months probation with 90 days of house arrest on a SCRAM ankle bracelet with electronic and alcohol monitoring. No contact with the victim. Anger management. Mental health counseling. Drug and alcohol assessment with random testing. Employment requirement. A $50 monthly supervision fee to Wayne County Adult Probation.
On the identity theft conviction: 24 months probation running concurrently, a $500 fine, and 20 hours of community service.
Maddi must pay $2,250 in restitution at $200 per month. Combined with court costs, fines, SCRAM fees, and the DNA Detection Fund, his total financial obligation tops $5,800. Court records show he has already made his first $250 payment.
No incarceration. Not in the Wayne County Correctional Facility, not in state prison, not even time served.
What It Means
By downgrading the ethnic intimidation charge to a misdemeanor, the plea deal stripped the hate crime enhancement of its weight. Maddi admitted he chose antisemitic imagery and extermination threats specifically because he knew the Spencer Printing owner was Jewish. He crafted a fake email identity to frame Korin Avery Carl, 22, of Hawley — a woman whose only prior record was a 2022 Pike County speeding ticket — and let her face felony charges, a public arrest, and a mugshot broadcast across Wayne, Lackawanna, Monroe, Luzerne, and Carbon counties before he confessed.
The sentence stands out against other ethnic intimidation cases across the Poconos and northeastern Pennsylvania. In Wayne County in 2023, Ronald J. Barillo of Lake Ariel was charged with six felony counts of ethnic intimidation for directing racial slurs and erecting offensive displays at a neighbor. In Crawford County in 2024, a man who pled no contest to ethnic intimidation received 12 to 24 months of incarceration followed by two years of probation.
Maddi’s case involved forged identity documents, explicit extermination threats, Nazi imagery, and the wrongful arrest of an innocent person. His 90 days of house arrest is less than what some Wayne County defendants receive for DUI.
What We Still Don’t Know
The docket does not identify who receives the $2,250 in restitution — Carl, the Spencer Printing owner, or both.
There is no indication Carl has pursued civil action against Maddi or against PSP Honesdale for the botched investigation that led to her wrongful arrest. No one at the Honesdale barracks or the Wayne County DA’s office has publicly addressed why Carl was charged with felonies within 48 hours — without tracing the email’s IP address or conducting digital forensics — based solely on a sender address that anyone could have faked.
Maddi’s case is closed. He owes his fines, his restitution, and his community service hours. He will wear an ankle bracelet for 90 days at his Clinton Township home near Waymart and check in with Wayne County Adult Probation each month.
The Hawley woman he framed still has an arrest on her record.
Wayne County Court Case Information
Commonwealth v. John Andrew Maddi
- Docket: CP-64-CR-0000003-2026
- DOB: 01/10/1986
- Address: Waymart, Wayne County, PA 18472
- Judge: Hon. Janine Edwards, President Judge
- Defense Attorney: James P. Baron, Milford, PA (Pike County)
- Arresting Agency: PSP Honesdale
- Arresting Officer: Trooper Christine Lashinski
Plea: Guilty — Feb. 19, 2026
Convictions:
- Ethnic Intimidation (M1) — 18 Pa.C.S. § 2710 — 18 months probation, 90 days house arrest/SCRAM
- Identity Theft (M1) — 18 Pa.C.S. § 4120 — 24 months probation (concurrent), $500 fine, 20 hrs community service
Restitution: $2,250 at $200/month Total Financial Obligation: $5,864.25 Status: Case Closed — Sentenced/Penalty Imposed, April 9, 2026
Charges Not Prosecuted Under Plea Agreement:
- Criminal Use of Communication Facility (F3) — 2 counts
- Terroristic Threats (M1) — 2 counts
- Forgery (M1) — 2 counts
- Identity Theft (M1) — 1 count
- Harassment (M3) — 4 counts
- Disorderly Conduct (M3) — 2 counts
- Unlawful Transmission of Email (M3) — 2 counts
- Ethnic Intimidation (F3) — 1 count (dismissed)
Commonwealth v. Korin Avery Carl — WITHDRAWN
- Docket: MJ-22302-CR-0000181-2025
- Disposition: All charges withdrawn Dec. 16, 2025
Incident No.: PA 2025-1516311
This is the fourth article in The Pocono Review’s coverage of this case. Read the full series: “Waymart Man Admits He Framed Hawley Woman in Antisemitic Email to Honesdale Business,” “How Did PSP Honesdale Get It So Wrong?,” and “Who Decides You Get Charged With a Crime in Pennsylvania?“