Judge sends former SUU lecturer to prison with consecutive sentences for terroristic threats

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CEDAR CITY — City attorney Randall McUne said he was on the first day of a family vacation when he heard the man who had directly threatened his wife and made terroristic threats against Southern Utah University, had fled.

He said it hung over him for the duration of his vacation. It turned out to be the first case he’s worked in which he needed to show his family a photo of a defendant and warn them. It’s also the first time he has spoken as a victim at a sentencing.

McUne told the judge on Friday not to wait to see Steven Charles Baggs, 47, take action before sending him to prison. He said those threatened, including his family, “don’t deserve to have our lives and families at risk.”

Fifth District Judge Matthew Bell sentenced Baggs, a former art course lecturer at SUU, to consecutive prison sentences for charges for which Baggs pleaded guilty in four different cases, all stemming from threats he made to his employers and co-workers at SUU; his wife and her boyfriend; and Cedar City officers, prosecutors and employees between November 2022 and March 2023.

“You’re an angry, self-centered, tantrum-throwing bully who relishes in the power of fear. You focus exclusively on your own stresses, challenges or perceived injustices, and that drives you to demand that other people suffer and pay a price … or even give their very lives to right some perceived wrong of yours,” Bell told Baggs.

Bell said Baggs did not just use threatening words, but he took actions to look up names of loved ones and addresses to give his threats more weight.

“You stole these victims’ peace of mind for many months,” the judge said.

Baggs was sentenced to one to 15 years in prison for threat of terrorism to influence government and threat of terrorism with a weapon, both second-degree felonies; zero to five years for possession of a firearm as a restricted person and theft by extortion, both third-degree felonies; one year for violation of a protective order and assault on a peace officer, both class A misdemeanors; and six months for two counts of threat of violence, a class B misdemeanor.

He will spend at least four years, and up to 43 years, in prison.

Bell urged the Board of Pardons and Parole, which will ultimately determine how long Baggs stays behind bars, to “exercise extreme caution” when deciding whether to release him on parole, and said prison is warranted for the safety of the community.

Baggs apologized before hearing his sentence and “begged” the judge not to send him to prison.

“I never would have acted out on anything,” he told the judge. “I was just, like I said, in a dark place.”

He said he threatened people he respected and he doesn’t understand his actions.

“I am shocked when I look back at what I said,” Baggs said.

Baggs’ attorney Steven Nielsen said Baggs returned to the U.S. from Japan — where he had fled — to face his charges. Nielsen cited a letter from Baggs’ therapist who said Baggs has shown disbelief in his actions.

“He should not have done it, but we can’t turn back the hands of time. We can only move forward. … Hopefully this doesn’t define the rest of his life,” Nielsen said.

David Hill, deputy Iron County attorney, said Baggs had plans to return to Cedar City from Japan but was arrested in California because officials worried what he might do upon arrival, due to previous comments about going out “in a blaze of glory.”

He said Baggs only came home because he didn’t have the money to stay in Japan once the university stopped paying him. He added that the case required a lot of resources and the investigation involved various law enforcement agencies, including two federal agencies.

“This is a complicated matter that involved 28 police reports, four district court cases, two justice court cases and a disturbing amount of victims,” Hill said.

Hill read multiple disturbing messages sent by Baggs, in which Baggs threatened to rape and kill his estranged wife, commit suicide on the SUU campus on the roof of the library or in a colleague’s office, kill 34 SUU students before he could be found, and kill certain individuals’ families.

“The community needs to be protected from a person who can think like this and advocate for such disturbing things,” he said.

Hill said he believes Baggs understood the psychological impact of the things he was saying on the many people he threatened.

He said threatening messages were sent to city officials, attorneys, SUU employees, a woman on the other end of a suicide hotline and people at media organizations. Hill said he used threats to impact government decisions and was willing to reach out to victims’ family members.

“His thirst for power and control led him to coerce those people who weren’t even involved,” he said.

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