ALTAMONT — Jonathan P. Francis, originally from Knox, who is well known to law enforcement, was arrested in October on a felony charge of witness tampering.

Francis was arrested on Oct. 27, 2014, according to the Altamont Police Department report, for an incident that had occurred a month prior, on Sept. 27, 2014.

Responding officer Christopher Laurenzo told The Enterprise recently that one of Francis’s sons had called police on that date in September to report that his father, Jonathan P. Francis, had just called him, wanting to speak with his son about the son’s upcoming testimony.

The testimony in question was related to an April 2, 2014 incident in which Francis was arrested outside the home of his estranged wife in Altamont Oaks Apartments.

Altamont Police were called to the apartment complex by a report of a fight. They found Francis outside, acting “hostile and agitated,” according to the police report on the April incident. His estranged wife came outside with a bloody mouth, crying, and told police that Francis had hit her, the report said.

The April report went on to say that Francis began to fight with the officers when they attempted to take him into custody, and that Francis was tasered and then placed in handcuffs.

He was taken to Albany Medical Center by the Altamont Rescue Squad, after a witness told officers that Francis had taken a whole bottle of pills and officers located an empty Xanax bottle that had been filled the previous day.

The September incident involved a voicemail message that Francis left on Sept. 27, 2014 for one of his sons, Officer Laurenzo told The Enterprise, indicating that Francis wanted to talk to the son about the son’s upcoming testimony about the April domestic incident. 

The son was the one who called police, according to Laurenzo. “And in New York State, trying to influence testimony is a felony, so we went to pick him up.”

According to the October arrest report, Francis was scheduled to be in Albany County Court on Oct. 27 for a hearing related to the earlier dispute. Altamont officers went to Guilderland and got a warrant for his arrest, and then met with Francis before his court appearance to advise him of the witness tampering charge, according to Laurenzo.

Francis was arraigned in county court on the witness-tampering charge, Laurenzo told The Enterprise recently, and was later brought back to Altamont for booking on that same charge. Francis was then released on his own recognizance, Laurenzo said, since there was already bail out on him.

Albany County Court spokesperson Cecilia Walsh told The Enterprise recently that Francis pleaded guilty to one count each of endangering the welfare of a child and resisting arrest. He was sentenced on Jan. 9 to one year on each count, to be served concurrently. Walsh added that orders of protection were also issued for the victims in the case.

According to the Booking Office of the Albany County Correctional Facility, Francis is in the county jail and is scheduled for release on Sept. 11, 2015.

Long history with the law

Former attorney and one-time candidate for Knox Town Judge, Jonathan P. Francis has a long history of run-ins with the law. Based on police reports and court records:

1991: He was arrested at age 23 for falsely reporting an incident after he called a secretary at the Berne-Knox-Westerlo school to report that he had shot himself in the head, when he had not.

2006: Francis was arrested on several misdemeanor charges after violating an order of protection by visiting a home on Lewis Road in Knox and refusing to leave. While there, he also slashed the tires on two vehicles at the home, the arrest report says.

2007: In April 2007, Francis’s license to practice law was suspended indefinitely for failure to complete a drug treatment program and comply with a subpoena regarding several complaints of professional misconduct, the details of which were sealed.

In May 2007, Francis waged a four-hour standoff with local and state law enforcement as well as the FBI outside his Knox home after he called a suicide hotline threatening to kill himself and also any first responders who arrived on the scene.

2008: Francis was disbarred after pleading guilty in 2007 in Albany County Court to criminal contempt, a felony.

2010: Francis was arrested in November for second-degree burglary and criminal contempt after police were called to his estranged wife’s Altamont Oaks apartment. According to the arrest report, Francis was violating an order of protection by being at the residence. His wife told officers that Francis was refusing to leave and was also threatening to kill himself as well as any first responders.