Ron Haddad Jr., the former River Forest resident first arrested in 2009 on domestic terrorism charges and eventually sentenced to 150 months in federal prison, was back in the Dirksen Courthouse downtown Monday afternoon for a status hearing on his latest alleged violation of probation.
Haddad, 50, has been under home incarceration 24 hours a day since being released from the Winnebago County Jail May 28, where’d he’d been held since violating his supervised release by sending unsettling emails to staff at the River Forest Library. He was convicted in county court of criminal trespass in 2025.
He currently wears two ankle monitors and is not allowed to step outside the front door of his mother’s Forest Park apartment except for pre-approved medical and court appointments.
Judge Edmund Chang eased those restrictions a bit Monday, despite Haddad having filed a six-page handwritten letter to the Executive Committee of the Northern District of Illinois court, lambasting the judge’s alleged “openly brazen approach” to his case. Haddad accused the judge of being “biased, hostile, prejudiced,” and of “literally already deciding any hearing results well in advance.”
Haddad’s screed never entered into the discussion Monday. His court appointed defense attorney, Susan Pavlow, asked Chang to give Haddad permission to leave the apartment to “run errands” once or twice a week.
“I don’t have a problem with Haddad stepping out,” probation officer Regina King told the judge. “My only concern is that he (not) go to a library where there are computers.”
Chang authorized the probation office to monitor his leaving the apartment “for defined periods of time and for defined purposes as appropriate,” including to get a haircut, but to stay clear of any place with computers.
One of the terms of Haddad’s current release is that he cooperate with mental health professionals treating him for several previously diagnosed psychiatric conditions. Haddad has repeatedly denied he has any problems in that regard. But in the 17 years since he was arrested by a federal Joint Terrorism task force, he has battled numerous defense attorneys, several judges, various mental health professionals, and gone as far as filing a lawsuit against his trial judge.
Monday’s hearing was supposed to be in preparation for a “show cause” hearing in which Judge Chang would rule on whether or not Haddad should be re-incarcerated for a second violation of his probation. Pavlow told Chang that Haddad’s Cook County trial for the alleged battery to a police officer has been scheduled for Aug. 31.
Chang suggested that his judicial calendar presents a problem, with him scheduled for a nine-week trial starting in September. The judge set a Sept. 10 status hearing, leaving it unclear whether any hearing requiring the presentation of evidence in Haddad’s probation violation will take place before November.