ICYMI: Tea party bad boy gets 3 years in prison

The Michigan Republican Party’s bad boy, Doug Sedenquist, was sentenced in a Delta County court this week to three years in prison for extortion and computer crimes aimed at his ex-wife.

An outspoken, far-right conservative from the Upper Peninsula who gained a following among tea party activists, Sedenquist resigned his seat on the Republican State Committee in July, shortly after his conviction.

The former vice chair of the Delta County GOP, Sedenquist recently lost his job as a talk-radio host.

Sedenquist, 52, received a sentence of three to 20 years, which means his minimum prison time could grow if he does not behave behind bars.

During the circuit court jury trial, the prosecution cited several incidents during the past two years when Sedenquist repeatedly threatened, intimidated and stalked his ex-wife in Escanaba and also in Green Bay, Wisc., where she works as a nurse, according to The (Escanaba) Daily Press.

Court testimony and emails backed up the charges, including extortion, which involved a plot by Sedenquist to (falsely) tell his ex-wife’s employer that she had violated patient confidentiality rights unless she would give in to his demands for retirement funds, spousal support, and joint child custody rights.

For his part, Sedenquist reportedly told the sentencing judge on Tuesday that it was all a “horrible mixup.”