Trojan Surprise: Used Condoms Sent to Judges
Monroe UnfilteredA Berks County man is accused of mailing used condoms to five Monroe County magisterial district judges and a doctor’s office in Stroud Township, in a campaign that ran through August, according to criminal complaints reported by the Pocono Record. You heard that right…and yuck. Talk about your Trojan Horses.
The Charges. Ethan T. Rundle, 33, of South Heidelberg Township, faces 10 second-degree felony counts of aggravated assault, 12 second-degree felony counts of retaliation against a judicial official, and numerous misdemeanors across three criminal complaints. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and we promise to keep saying so while we try very hard not to gag.
What Police Say. Officers from several agencies were called Aug. 10 to the offices of Magisterial District Judges Michael Wolbert in East Stroudsburg, Jamie Levy in Smithfield Township and Philip Riley in Barrett Township. Each court had received one or more envelopes holding a used condom, and every envelope carried Rundle’s own return address, which is certainly an interesting strategy. More arrived through August, the complaints say, going to those three courts, to the offices of Judge Donald Johnson in Stroudsburg and Judge Paul Gasper in Stroud Township, and to a medical office in Stroud Township. Police count about two dozen in all. Somewhere, a clerk drew the short straw on opening the mail.
In His Words. Investigators say Rundle admitted sending them (big surprise given they had his return address) when Stroud Area Regional Police Detective Christian Capone and State Police Trooper Brittany Cutro interviewed him Sept. 10 at the Monroe County Correctional Facility, and that he called them “hits.” Not the word we would pick for something delivered to a judge, but here we are. Pocono Mountain Regional Police Detective Ryan Venneman, who listened to the audio, wrote in the third complaint that Rundle likened it to an incident the year before in which he threw a bag of feces at Gasper’s court, and said none of it would have happened if anyone had been doing their job. A bag of feces? What is it with this guy and bodily excretions? (Allegedly, of course.)
A Familiar Name. Now the part that is not funny. Rundle has been in Monroe County courts before. In January 2022 he was charged with corruption of minors, accused of harassing a 17-year-old who worked at the Hamilton Township restaurant he managed. He was first declared not competent to stand trial, then found competent, and pleaded guilty. In April 2022 he was charged with recklessly endangering others for firing an AR-15 into the air near occupied homes, and he pleaded guilty to that too. Judge Jonathan Mark sentenced him on both in November 2025. On the first, he received 168 days to one year, 11 months and 29 days, plus three years of probation. On the second, he received 120 to 606 days. A February 2025 harassment citation for repeatedly contacting a Stroud Township doctor also ended in a guilty plea. This year he has been charged in three more cases with stalking, harassment and retaliation against a witness or victim, accused of harassing a different doctor in the same practice through letters and voicemails.
What’s Next. Rundle’s formal arraignment on multiple cases is Monday, Nov. 9.
What We Don’t Know. The Pocono Record’s report does not say whether Rundle has entered a plea, has a lawyer, or remains in custody. We’ll update you when we find out.
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