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Man arrested for harassing township treasurer
After four months of sending threatening and accusatory emails to Bloomfield Township Treasurer Michael Schostak and his colleagues, associates and family, Marc Aisen of Marblehead, Mass., was arrested, extradited to Michigan and arraigned at the 48th District Court on Wednesday, December 20.
At the arraignment, he was issued a $50,000 cash bond. He is also not allowed to further contact Schostak or any of his associates, cannot use a computer, and must stay in Michigan throughout the court proceedings. Aisen was ordered to wear a tether if he is released.
The emails began in July 2023, and after Aisen didn’t receive a response from the official, he then began emailing other Bloomfield Township officials, the Schostak's family, and his children’s school, totaling over 190 recipients. In those emails, Aisen made multiple defamatory accusations, including that the official was affiliated with Hamas and child sexual exploitation.
Schostak explained that after the antisemitic incident at the preschool at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township last December, he wrote an opinion piece in The Jewish News which eventually went nationwide with other publications, and Aisen read it. Schostak said that Aisen, who is Jewish, as is Schostak, “believed that someone at the Boston Jewish Federation had committed acts of child exploitation. Through my work through Jewish community security, he believed I was complicit with child sexual exploitation, genital mutilation and human trafficking.”
Schostak said he was initially advised by attorneys to ignore the slew of emails because he was an elected official, but after several months Aisen increased his email attacks, emailing Schostak's clients, his ex-wife, and then his children's school.
“I felt the line had been crossed between the political and personal,” he said.
Bloomfield Township police detectives advised Aisen of the harassment and informed him to cease and desist communications with Schostak, as well as his family, friends, colleagues and all Bloomfield Township affiliated organizations.
After Aisen spoke with detectives, he then proceeded to continue the harassment, sending another email to well over an additional 190 recipients, making similar accusations of the township treasurer Schostak.
From there, the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office got involved, reviewing the case and ultimately issued a two-count felony warrant for using a computer to commit a crime.
Aisen was notified by Bloomfield Township police of the charges and given six weeks to turn himself in. When that did not happen, Massachusetts police arrested Aisen and extradited from Massachusetts to Michigan. He is currently being held at the Oakland County Jail until he posts bond. If he does post bond, he must remain in Michigan on a tether until the case is resolved and cannot use a computer.
“Just because we're public officials does not mean we shouldn't be able to go to the grocery store or live in our own homes,” Schostak noted. “Civil discourse has reached a fever pitch. We need to disagree with grace and respect.”
