A former Omaha mayoral communications director and local meteorologist has been sentenced for threatening Douglas County Health Director Dr. Adi Pour when pandemic restrictions were being put in place.
On Tuesday, 57 year old Ronald Penzkowski of Omaha, was sentenced to two years probation. Penzkowski pleaded no contest in September for two misdemeanor third-degree assault charges.
Penzkowski, who also goes by the name “Ron Gerard,” was arrested in March, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, after he sent a series of emails threatening to lynch Dr. Pour or slit her throat.
Penzkowski’s attorney Steve Lefler, said the judge took into account the unusual circumstances of being in the middle of a pandemic with a number of businesses shuttering. Also that the defendant has been seeing a counselor ever since the arrest and has undergone a number of evaluations to the satisfaction of the court.
Penzkowski served as the communications director for Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle from 2009 to 2010. In the 1980's and 1990's, he was a meteorologist for KETV and KPTM.