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Inmate Accused Of Threatening Wife To Face Trial

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 24, 2008

Updated: 06/24/2008 03:57 pm

Vincent James Krocka

TAMPA – A former Chicago police officer who became a local lawyer, Vincent James Krocka is now serving a state prison sentence after being convicted in a standoff with sheriff's deputies.

Now, he is facing federal charges of extortion and witness intimidation, accused of sending threatening letters to his estranged wife and other federal witnesses from prison.

This morning a federal magistrate found Krocka, 55, competent to stand trial, and he pleaded not guilty to charges contained in a 25-count federal indictment.

A psychiatrist evaluated Krocka after his attorney, Joseph Bodiford, requested it in a motion in which he said Krocka has a "long-standing history of mental illness, which is manifested in irrational behavior. This behavior includes a history of highly emotional telephone rants, which include both threats of harm and often written letters that are, quite simply, bizarre."

Krocka's law license was suspended last year as a result of his conviction in 2005 on charges of child neglect and criminal mischief after a 2004 standoff with sheriff's deputies. During the incident, authorities said Krocka holed himself up in his apartment with his two teenage sons and fired shots at Hillsborough deputies, striking a cruiser. A jury acquitted him of attempted murder. He is scheduled to be released from state prison in 2012.

A federal indictment accuses him of sending numerous letters to his estranged wife, Grace Krocka, in attempts to extort her into dropping a divorce petition and relinquishing control over family and financial assets, and to intimidate her and "gain a sense of satisfaction by tormenting" her.

"I can't wait to get close to you and wrap my arms around you," one of the letters read, according to the indictment. "Love you til we die."

In another letter he is accused of writing in June 2005, Krocka wrote, "I intend to devastate you," the indictment states. "The end of our vows state, 'Til death do us part'…Consider that a viable option for yourself."

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