Street performer Dan Sandler, who had been previously arrested for yelling anti-Semitic rants while dressed as Elmo, found himself in court again for attempting to extort $2 million form the Girls Scouts.
According to the New York Daily News, Sandler's "protest" was against the organization alleged ties to the pharmaceutical industry. The 49-year-old was sentenced to one year in jail for his actions.
"This was not a case of some one in the back room or front office trying to embezzle. This was more of a protest, like lying in an intersection," Sander told Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Robert Stoltz. "I am not in any way sorry to the Girl Scouts organization because I believe they are a very corrupt organization because of their relationship to the pharmaceutical industry."
Sandler reportedly threatened the organization on multiple occasions via email to his former supervisor at the Girl Scouts.
"Last month, Mr. Sandler, 49, of Ashland, Ore., pleaded guilty to reduced charges of second-degree attempted grand larceny and third-degree stalking in return for the one-year sentence," the New York Times reports. "Prosecutors said he sent harassing e-mails in 2012 to his former supervisor at the Girl Scouts, where he had worked in 2007 and 2008 on a short-term computer programming project. He also tried to force his way into the organization's headquarters in Manhattan."
Sandler also threatened to falsely accuse the organization of prostituting young girls if he did not receive $2 million from them.
The latest sentence is a part of a string of "bizarre" behavior from Sandler.
"In the 1990s, he operated a pornographic Web site in Cambodia called 'Welcome to the Rape Camp,' which purported to show videos of nonconsensual sex," the Times reports. "The Cambodian authorities deported him in 1999."
Sandler was best known for his anti-Semitic rants while dressed as "Sesame Street" Elmo in Times Square. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and sentenced to community service.
