DENVER (KDVR) — A Colorado man who was first criminally charged for threatening his neighbor with a baseball bat and then charged again for threatening the judge presiding over his case was sentenced to 12 years in the Department of Corrections for his actions.

Vishal Bhatt, 35, pleaded guilty in March to menacing and witness intimidation, and in a separate case, to felony retaliation against a judge, according to a Thursday release from the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

“Threatening the prosecutor and judge assigned to your case won’t make it go away,” District Attorney John Kellner said in the release. “Things will only get worse, as this defendant learned with a well-deserved prison sentence.”

It all started in March 2022, when Douglas County deputies were dispatched to an unincorporated neighborhood on a disturbance call. Responding deputies said they interviewed Bhatt, who claimed his neighbor came to his house and demanded he “slow down” while driving in the neighborhood, the DA’s office said.

Deputies reported that after the neighbor left, Bhatt drove to the neighbor’s house with a baseball bat to confront him. Two witnesses, one an off-duty officer, told deputies they saw Bhatt get out of his car with the baseball bat, holding it “in a manner consistent with someone about to swing,” according to the release. One witness allegedly told deputies they saw Bhatt put the bat up to the neighbor’s neck.

Bhatt was arrested and released on a $25,000 surety bond, but the next incident came a year later.

In March 2023, a pre-trial services supervisor emailed Bhatt to inform him he needed to check in with the division or they would submit a “non-compliance report” to the court.

Bhatt demanded the criminal charges against him be dropped, saying the court would need SWAT, and that he had “something for them and will be waiting,” the DA’s office said. The pre-trial services supervisor allegedly attempted to get a current address for Bhatt via email, but Bhatt instead fired back again.

“Let me make myself clear,” Bhatt told the court in his email, according to the release. “I have both (the prosecutor) and (judge’s) home addresses. It would be wise to get them both 24hr police protection. Your court will not be convicting me of any fraud charges without major repercussions.”

Bhatt was sentenced to 12 years in the Department of Corrections in the case involving his neighbor and six years in the case involving the judge. Both sentences will run concurrently.